Shadow's Graveyard
by jane0904
Summary: Mal and the crew have a job, while Freya is still on Lazarus trying to help Inara. But a problem with Serenity's engine means a visit to a moon Mal would much rather leave well alone. Please review. Now COMPLETE but more to come.
1. Chapter 1

_Now …_

The shuttle's course was erratic over the yellow landscape, rising and tumbling as if the person at the controls was having trouble maintaining any kind of coherent flight plan. It skimmed low, just avoiding a clump of dead trees, pulling up at the last second to turn its nose to the sky and climb, the metal frame screaming in protest.

Suddenly there was a flash at the rear of the small craft, and the engines cut out. For just a second it appeared that the pilot would be able to glide the shuttle to the ground, but – as its designer had been fond of saying – a Firefly's shuttle had the manoeuvrability of a flying brick when in atmo and not under its own power. It started to dive, spinning as it went, air whining past the fuselage until it smashed belly down into the ground, throwing dust and debris into the air. It split like an egg.

Nothing happened for a long moment as the detritus came under gravity's impulse again, then someone climbed unsteadily out of the gash in the bulkhead. The figure staggered forwards, stumbling, trying to get as far away as possible before …

The shuttle blew, the explosion ripping it apart, curling the metal back on itself and hurling burning fragments high into the sky. The shockwave reached the lurching figure, caught like a puppet and tossed to the ground to lie still and broken as bits of shuttle rained down …

---

_Then …_

"This is hard," Mal said, staring at the screen.

"I know." His wife looked back, the image grainy since they were at the limit of visual range, even with the state of the art Cortex link at the Lazarus end. "Me too."

He'd tried to get back, to see her, hold her, but for once there was more than enough work, and with a growing family Mal knew he had to save as much money as he could. It meant that he hadn't been able to park Serenity and visit his wife, and even if he had they both knew it would be very painful leaving her again, saying goodbye … again … They knew they couldn't do it. So he took the jobs. Got paid. Kept flying.

"So how's Ethan?" he asked, trying to keep it light. "Getting over that cold?"

"He's much better than yesterday. Inara took him outside and let him help her with weeding River's garden this morning. It's amazing how much is growing now the snow's gone."

"He didn't get chilled, did he?"

"He was so bundled up he could hardly walk." She laughed, and the sound made him smile. "If he'd fallen over he'd never've been able to get up by himself."

"But he had a good time?"

"Inara said he was very enthusiastic."

"More'n I am. River's got me weeding too."

"But do you know the difference between a plant and a weed?"

"Nope. But I'm learning."

"Then Ethan takes after his father. According to Inara he pulled up the flower shoots too."

"Don't think I'll tell River that. It's bad enough she's moping around like a wet weekend on Regina. Following me everywhere like a raincloud."

"You certainly have a way with words."

"More'n just words."

"That too."

They paused, just staring at each other, feeling the ache inside that they couldn't touch, couldn't hold.

"How about my girl in there?" Mal finally asked, pointing towards about where Freya's belly would be.

She glanced down. "Making her Momma sick."

"You're throwing up again?" Instantly he leaned forward, concerned.

"Only a little. And Mrs Boden has been very kind, making sure there's crackers by the bed every night."

"You want to speak to Simon?"

"Mal, I'm fine. This is normal. Remember what I was like with Ethan."

"And that scared me half to death," he admitted.

"Don't be."

Again there was a pause.

"Wish I could rub your back for you."

"My back wishes you could too."

There was a further pause as they both imagined …

Mal spoke quickly. "How _is_ Inara? Talking any more since yesterday?"

"Actually, yes. I think being outside with Ethan made her more relaxed. We had a long chat over tea."

"She break anything?"

"That was one time, Mal."

"A whole dinner service."

"Not all of it. I think there were a couple of plates left intact."

"I miss you," Mal said suddenly. "So much."

"Mal, I miss you too."

At first they'd tried watching as they touched themselves, but the climaxes they produced only made Freya cry, and left him more knotted up than ever, and after a few days they stopped. Now the need was more palpable, but almost bearable.

"You gotta come home soon. It's been nearly six weeks already …"

"I will. Inara's … opening up more. Soon, Mal."

"Well, if it's more'n a fortnight I'm coming for you one way or the other."

"I wish you would."

He reached out and touched the cold plexi, and she did the same. "Got us a job this morning, by the way. We're … we're heading towards Lilac, and Hank says we won't be back in visual range for about ten days."

"Ten days," she echoed, sounding so unhappy he almost ran to the com there and then and ordered his pilot to turn his boat around.

"Good gig, though. Lots of coin. Almost legal."

"Almost." She wiped at her nose with her other hand.

"Hell, you know me, Frey. Law-abiding to a fault."

This time she smiled a little. "Of course you are."

The image on the screen was becoming worse, and he moved forward, as if being closer would make it clearer.

"We're moving out of range, _bao-bei_."

She nodded. "I know."

He so needed to touch her lips, feel her skin warm under his hands, kiss the tattoo from the nape of her neck to the swell of her hips. "Tell Jayne to be good, and I'll talk to you when I can. Soon as we're back in visual, I'll wave."

"See that you do."

"And give Ethan my love."

"I will. He misses you."

"And I miss him." Her face blurred as the image wobbled. "Frey –"

"I love –" she tried to say quickly, but then there was only static.

Mal leaned his forehead on the screen, trying to calm the blood that was pounding through his veins.

"Sorry, Mal," came Hank's voice over the com. "That's it."

He crossed his bunk. "Yeah, figured that. Thanks for … you know."

"Yeah."

"If anyone needs me … well, just tell 'em to talk to Zoe."

"Sure thing, Mal."

Mal heard the faint click as the com closed, and looked around his cabin. So much of her was here, and not just the scent in the bedclothes that he now lay down on, picking up Ethan's toy rabbit and setting in on the pillow next to him as he waited for the ache to subside enough to function.

---

"Mama okay?" Ethan asked, looking up from the collection of small wooden animals he was organising by colour and size. Jayne had been busy carving, just to while away the time.

Freya pulled the door of the nursery half closed and sat down next to him. "Mama's okay."

"Talking to Daddy." He picked up a camel. "Makes Mama sad."

She smoothed his hair, which had a tendency to go into a cowlick at the top of his crown. "A bit. It's because Daddy isn't here, and Mama misses him."

"Ethan misses Daddy too," he said, turning his blue eyes on her.

Freya felt her heart skip a beat. He was going to look so like Mal it was uncanny. "I know you do."

The little boy put down the camel, placing it very carefully back in the row, then shuffled over so that he was sitting between her knees. He patted her belly, growing ever bigger. "Sister."

"That's right. Your little baby sister."

"When?"

"It'll be a while."

"When?"

"Another four months, round about."

He nodded, as if he understood exactly. "Four munfs."

"Months. Yes. Then you'll get to meet her."

Ethan put his head on one side, then leaned down. "Hello," he said to the bump.

Freya couldn't help smiling. "I think she said hello back."

"I'm Ethan." He patted his sister again, then grinned up at his mother.

It took an effort not to burst into tears. Mal was missing so much, and now his son had used a pronoun, properly, in the right way … "That's right," she managed to say. "And you're going to look after her, aren't you?"

He shrugged, and this time she had to smile. "'Spose." His eyes strayed back to his zoo. "Uncle Jayne making more?" he asked.

"Running out of animals, squirt," Jayne said from the doorway. He held out a carved animal. "Got this one done, though."

Ethan smiled so widely he nearly choked. Scrambling to his feet he ran to the big man, taking the toy. "Uncle Jayne?" He looked up in query.

"It's an elephant."

"Elefump?"

"Close enough. Only don't ask how I managed the trunk, 'cause that's about the third go." He watched the little boy go back to his row of toys and squat down, then looked at Freya. "You okay?"

"Shiny."

"Only you look kinda pale."

"Talking to Mal. Before they got out of range."

Jayne nodded. "Yeah, me too. To River, I mean." He sat down gingerly on the small bed. "She said Mal ain't been sleeping too good."

"Really?" Freya looked surprised. "He didn't tell me that."

"Don't want to worry ya, I guess."

"And you do?"

"Thought you'd be able to tell he ain't, on account of you being a mind reading genius like moonbrain." He twinkled a little.

"One, I'm not a genius." She ticked off her points on her fingers. "Two, I try not to read minds if I can help it. And three, he's too far away for me to do it anyway."

"So you can't figure what he's thinking?"

"No."

"Always figured you could."

"Well, we've not really been that far apart to find out." She lifted her knees so that she could rest her wrists on them. "Truth is, I can feel him, know he's there, but it's like –"

"Trying to swim through cotton candy?"

She was impressed by his metaphor. "Exactly that."

"'S'what River says sometimes. And I think she's feeling the same. Not being here with me, 'n' all." He looked down at his big hands. "When're they coming back? Pick us up?"

"Soon. God, Jayne, I hope soon." She watched him scratch the side of his head where the scar was just a thin line in amongst the hair growing back. Simon had shaved as little as possible, but it had been an eerie sight. Now, though, there was a line of white hair amid the dark. "Stop that," she said mildly.

He looked at his hand, then realised what he'd been doing. "Kinda got into the habit," he said sheepishly. He brushed the short hair flatter. "Kinda distinguished, ain't it?"

"River won't be able to keep her hands off you."

He laughed. "She don't now." Settling back he looked at her. "You know, Mal ain't the only one not sleeping well. You got bags under your eyes."

"Thanks."

"Well, if I don't tell ya, nobody else is gonna."

"I thought you were scared of me?"

"Nah. Least, not with the squirt here. You ain't likely to kill me in front of him."

"Mama kill Uncle Jayne?" Ethan asked, his eyes wide.

"Not yet, Ethan," his mother assured him. "Not yet."

---

"Cap, we need a new therm regulator." Kaylee was standing in the doorway of the dining area, wiping her hands on a piece of cloth already impregnated with oil.

Mal looked up at her from the accounts books. "I'll take it under advisement, _mei-mei_." He smiled and turned his head back to the figures, noting with satisfaction that more than usual seemed to be on the right side of the line.

"No, Cap'n." She stepped down to the floor. "I said we _need_ one. Like, now. Otherwise we'll be dead in the water in four days."

He lifted his face and stared at her. "You're telling me something important on my ship is about to go, and you didn't tell me sooner? Two weeks ago and we were picking up parts left, right and centre for you –"

"Things go wrong all the time, Cap'n. The purifier, then the catalyzer was playing up –" She caught the slightly hunted look on his face. "Although that's fine now. But you fix one thing and something else goes. And, truth is, I didn't know." She sat down next to him, the faint smell of engine filling his nostrils. "The regulator quit today. No sign of it failing, just quit. I can coax her along, but … we ain't got a choice. Need a new one."

"Well, there ain't one. Not within least a week of here. And we got that job on Lilac –"

"Then we're stuck."

He stared at her. "You saying you can't make it last a week?"

"Nope. I don't replace it in four days the engine seizes up, and then there'll be nothing we can do. Serenity'll be dead."

"Kaylee, you're scaring me."

"Not trying to, Cap'n. Just telling the truth." Truth was, she was terrified, but she was determined not to show it. "Must be somewhere we can go, find the part."

"Is it expensive?"

"Not hardly. Just a little thing, but Serenity won't go without it."

"Then why can't you –"

"'Cause I don't have the workshop and I don't have the tools." She gazed into his blue eyes, trying to make him see. "There ain't no choice here, Cap'n."

Mal didn't respond, just sat back in his chair.

---

Zoe stared at her captain. "Sir, there must be an alternative."

"Can you think of one? We're pretty much alone out here. Even the inhabited moons within distance of us ain't that advanced." He tapped the star charts he'd laid out on the dining table. "You think they're likely to have one of those therm regulators?"

"I'm not saying that, sir, but –"

"And we do visit one of 'em, and they ain't. We'll be stuck."

"Can't Kaylee rig something? Even just to get us to somewhere she could –"

"I asked. She said no."

"But to go there, sir …"

"You think I want to?" His blue eyes flashed hard at her. "You think this is the place I wanna be right now?"

"I didn't say that, sir –"

"Right now I'd rather be back on Lazarus, holding my wife. But if we don't get this part it's gonna be a helluva long time before I see her again."

Zoe didn't speak for a long time. Then … "I'll give Hank the co-ordinates for Amnesty."


	2. Chapter 2

_Then …_

"Amnesty?" Hank shook his head. "Never heard of it."

"It's out beyond Muir," Zoe said softly.

"On the Rim?"

"Mmn."

"But I thought I knew all the places like that."

"It's … not exactly mentioned too much in the travel brochures," Mal said, stepping onto the bridge, his normal persona back in place. "Too cold and with no leisure facilities to speak of."

"Then why are we going?"

"Hank, it's a place I don't wanna be. But if little Kaylee says we need that part, then this is the only option."

"Inhabited?"

"Not so's you'd notice."

"Then how're we gonna get this mechanical piece?"

"Just … you get us there, best speed Kaylee'll let you do. Let me worry about the rest of it."

"Well, it's only a day from here." He started inputting the co-ordinates. "We really that deep in the _cao_?"

"Maybe."

"Think Kaylee can keep her together long enough?"

"You wanna ask her?"

"Uh, no."

"Then just get us heading to Amnesty."

"I still don't know why I ain't heard of it."

"Death," River murmured from the back of the bridge.

"More near it, albatross," Mal said, heading back towards the galley.

"Death?" Hank glanced from River to Zoe, his face uncertain. "Why am I not liking the sound of that?"

"Pain. Loss." The young psychic shook her head. "I can't …" She ran down the steps after Mal.

"Whose?" Hank called after her, but she didn't answer.

"She's missing Jayne," Zoe said.

"Yeah, but does that mean she has to creep the rest of us out?" He turned Serenity onto her new heading. "So. Amnesty. Sounds like a fun place."

"It's a graveyard of ships. More than a thousand, if you believe the rumours," Zoe explained softly.

He almost gave himself whiplash in spinning in his seat so fast to stare at her. Then he laughed. "Okay, now I know you're pulling my leg. How come I ain't heard these rumours? A thousand ships. Pilot like me, I'd've known if –"

"Wash did. We talked about it once, but … Hank, no-one goes near this place. And those that do come back with stories full of ghosts. That is, those that come back at all."

"Ghosts?" His good humour had abruptly vanished again. "Why are we going, again?"

---

_Now …_

Freya woke up, shivering, sweat on her forehead and around her back. Her dream had been tumbled, falling, smashing to the yellow ground as she dragged her body out of the dark and into the light, even as flames licked at her back …

For an age she tried to clear the thoughts from her head, knowing that if she went back to sleep straight away she'd just live it again.

"Mama?" Ethan stood in the doorway, his little body shaking.

She held out her arms and he ran to her, clambering up onto the bed so she could hold him tightly.

"It's just a dream, Ethan," she said, stroking his head on her chest.

"Scared."

"I know, baby. But it was only a dream." She laid down again and pulled the covers back over both of them, calming her own heartbeat in an effort to calm his. "I'm here. It was just a dream."

"Just a dream," he echoed, but held on to her nevertheless.

She began to hum, a lullaby she remembered Mal singing once, and eventually Ethan's grip eased and he slid into sleep. She couldn't. Wouldn't. She looked down at her baby, his dark hair mussed, and prayed he'd grow out of this. She couldn't bear the thought of what might happen to him if this wasn't just an occasional flash, if he was psychic too.

God, she needed Mal.

---

_Then …_

"Mal, we're coming up on Amnesty," Hank said into the com, but wasn't terribly surprised when the man himself spoke at his elbow.

"Kinda saw that, Hank."

"Can we put a bell on you?" the pilot asked, hooking the handset back up. "I mean, just so's I don't go round making a fool of myself too often."

"No, don't think that's possible," Mal said, staring out of the window at the yellow planet getting bigger in the window. "And the bell ain't likely either."

"Well, can't fault a feller for asking." He corrected their trajectory a little, turning Serenity's belly to the planet. "So, where do I land?"

Mal shook his head. "Not rightly sure."

"Then how do you -"

"We'll know it when we see it."

"Only it looks like we might have problems if wherever the hell we're going is on the other side of the planet."

"Why?"

"She's in geosynch - keeping the same side to the sun all the time. The other side is in permanent night, and pretty cold, too. Well below freezing."

"We'll just have to hope for the best."

Hank's call had brought the others to the bridge, and they now all stood waiting.

"How come I ain't never heard of Amnesty, Cap'n?" Kaylee asked, looking tired and harassed from having spent the last twenty-four hours keeping her girl together. Simon put his arm around her, squeezing gently, and she flashed him a grateful smile.

"Exactly what I asked," Hank said, feeling the atmo beginning to make the Firefly buck as the hull temperature increased. Flames became visible at the edges of the window, growing in intensity as they dropped lower. The ship rattled.

"That ain't important," Mal said, leaning on the back of the pilot's chair, "You just get us into atmo in one piece." Serenity lurched and he glanced at Kaylee. "She is … gonna stay in one piece?"

"Course she is." The rattling got louder. "Might be a tad bumpy, though, seeing as I had to adjust the entry couplings to take the pressure off the -"

"Kaylee, I just wanted to know if we're gonna crash."

"No, sir, Cap'n. Not today." She smiled at him, then hurried out back towards her engine room.

"Good," he called as the flames died out, and the sky outside turned blue. "Good."

Hank eased Serenity's nose down, keeping her high but allowing them a good view of the land below. "And I ask again, exactly where am I going? 'Cause this ain't exactly a small place to be searching."

"Sir." Zoe pointed ahead towards something on the horizon. "Do you think …"

"Might be." Mal nodded. "Head that way."

"Yes sir," Hank said, turning the Firefly in that direction, coming up on the area fast. "_Tzao gao_," he murmured.

It looked like a huge scar in the landscape, as if a meteor had plunged and gouged its way into oblivion, reaching into the cusp of the darkside.

Except the rumours were right - it _was_ a graveyard, but not of people. Down on the yellow earth, ribs pointing skywards through busted skin, lay hundreds of ships, some barely recognisable as more than hunks of rust.

Mal held his breath.

"That's …" Hank couldn't speak.

"Yeah."

"Were they … did people die down there?" Simon asked.

"A fair number, doctor," Zoe said, her face betraying nothing of her inner turmoil. Except to those who knew her.

"What was it? Some kind of battle?"

"A massacre, doc," Mal finally said. "The Alliance ambushed and killed them."

"There's no proof it was the Alliance, sir," Zoe said quietly.

"It was during the war, and there ain't a one vessel down there fought on the winning side!" Mal said savagely. "You don't think that's proof enough?"

"No sir, I don't."

"They're not military vessels," River said, stepping silently onto the bridge. "Transports, cargo ships, passenger haulers … not military."

"No, _mei-mei_, they ain't." Mal calmed a little. "This was all that survived from one place. All the people who got away before they scorched the continent."

"Scorched?" Simon looked sharply at Serenity's captain. "You mean …"

"My home," Mal confirmed. "Shadow."

There was a long silence as they all digested that little piece of information.

Then Hank shifted in the pilot's seat. "There's … Mal, there's a Firefly down there." He pointed. "In fact, more'n one."

"Not surprised. There were more than a few made, and they're good ships, so it stands to reason there might be."

"Is that what you were hoping for?"

"Not particularly. But I dare say Kaylee'll be pleased." He studied the terrain. "Well, it's too tight to land, so we'd better set down somewhere a mite more hospitable and walk in." He glanced around at Simon. "Better go check we don't need inocs or anything. Don't really feel like catching anything today."

The young doctor tore himself away from the view. "Of course," he said, hurrying down the stairs and collecting River on his way. "Come and help me, _mei-mei,_" he said softly.

"Such loss," she murmured, her voice drifting back to them.

"What if there isn't one?" Hank asked suddenly. "I mean, a therm regulator. Or if that one's bust too?"

"Hank, can we deal with that when and if we get to it?" Mal turned to head off the bridge but his pilot hadn't finished.

"Only I'm beginning to think we'd have been better off putting into one of the other moons. Even if they didn't have the part, at least there'd be people. Some chance of –"

"Kind of a moot point, now," Mal said, trying to maintain his calm. "Shoulda said something before."

"I tried. Remember?"

"Just get us the hell down. Even if the damn regulator ain't quite right, I'm sure Kaylee can make it work 'til we get some place more civilised, okay?"

"Okay." He didn't sound convinced, and still worried at it like a dog with a bone. "If you're sure …"

Mal was suddenly at his ear. "Hank, land my gorram ship or I will lock you in the hold. And lose the key."

"See. Only had to ask nicely …" the pilot muttered, setting Serenity towards an open area of land as he heard Mal stomp off the bridge.

"You like living dangerously," Zoe said quietly.

"Danger's my middle name," Hank agreed. "Actually my middle name's a secret, and no amount of torture could make me …" He stared out of the window as he brought Serenity in to land, facing in towards the mass of derelict ships. If anything it was more impressive from down here on the ground. Some of the remains seemed to tower maybe two hundred feet into the air. He swallowed. "So you … you haven't been here before?"

Zoe shook her head. "Nor's Mal. But we heard about it, in the camp. What had happened. I think that was the moment Mal gave up the hope that his mother might have survived."

"Why didn't she leave? I mean, Harry and Vinnie … their families must have."

"Soon as it looked like Shadow might be in the middle of something. But Mrs Reynolds wouldn't go, least from what they've said. Turned around and told them, in no uncertain terms, that she wasn't leaving her home, her land. No matter what they did."

"But it was only the one continent got hit. I mean, we've been there. That Maddy person came from … surely his Ma could have been persuaded to at least move -"

"You ever tried to make Mal do what he don't want to? And his Ma was from the same stock. He went to war because of that stubborn streak."

"I guess," Hank said unhappily.

"'Sides, from what he's said, and it ain't been much, that continent was the most populated. Had the best land, good water … the rest of the planet wasn't much more than scrub. Pretty much like this." She sighed. "It's how come they all tried to leave. Even if they'd wanted to stay, with the Alliance breathing down their necks, there was no place for them to go."

"And did she …"

"Ever wondered how come Mal could afford to buy this ship?"

Hank blinked at the apparent non-sequitur. "Um, well, yeah, once in a while."

"Compensation. The great Alliance was seen to be merciful, and they paid out on all the ranches and homesteads that got burned. To any that actually claimed. Mal wasn't going to, but Freya persuaded him."

"Screw them for every penny?"

"Pretty much. Enough to buy Serenity."

"I'm figuring it wasn't what the ranch was worth."

"No. Nowhere near. But enough." She looked out at the destruction ranged in front of them. "He didn't have a home to go back to, so he made his own."

"I always wondered why he bought a Firefly."

Zoe smiled slightly. "Oh, that wasn't the only reason."

He waited for her to elaborate. "You ain't gonna tell me, are you?"

"Nope." She patted his shoulder affectionately then walked in her stately fashion off the bridge.

"You know I'm gonna try and make you tell me, don't you?" he called after her.

"That'll be fun too."

---

"The atmosphere is breathable," Simon noted. "Pretty chilly, but it doesn't appear to ever warm up that much. We'll be needing those coats."

"You're staying put, doc," Mal said. "Someone has to look after the ship, and you've been nominated."

"Does this mean I get a bigger share of the pot?" the young man deadpanned, completing the inoc against the higher than usual radiation in the atmosphere.

"Don't push it." He pulled his shirt sleeve back down. "'Sides, Hank's staying too, and so's your sis."

"Then why can't I -"

"I don't want no-one setting foot on this rock that doesn't have to. We ain't here to sightsee. Kaylee has to go because she knows the part we need, and I'm taking Zoe as back-up. Everyone else stays on board."

"This place really has given you the jitters."

"Just want to be gone soon as we can." He picked up his brown leather coat and strode out.

Simon watched him leave. It had been a long time since he'd seen the captain so wound up, tighter than a watch spring, and only a small percentage of that could be laid at Freya's door. No. This place was affecting him more than he cared to admit, and it gave the young doctor a very bad feeling.

"All set?" Mal asked, heading out of the common area into the cargo bay.

"Yes sir," Zoe replied, making sure her Mare's Leg was firmly attached to her thigh.

Kaylee nodded. "All ready." She seemed enthusiastic. "You know, there might be more stuff out there that we can salvage," she said. "If'n someone else ain't got to it first."

"You just look for that therm regulator. That's all we need right now," Mal said firmly.

"Yeah, but things go wrong sometimes, and if I had a full set of spares -"

"Where 'd you put them, Kaylee?" Zoe asked, seeing Mal's temper beginning to wear thin. "Your store is full to bursting as it is."

"Always make room for some good stuff," the young mechanic said airily. "And it ain't that often I get to roam around another Firefly. Could be something there that's even better than something we got. Then I'd be able to replace it and still have a spare in case of emergencies. 'Sides, might be able to sell anything we find, and that'd be -"

"Kaylee." Mal cut across her chatter. "Therm regulator. That's it. No poking into other things."

She looked at him, the hurt on her face evident. "Sure thing, Cap'n," she said, her voice much quieter.

Instantly Mal felt guilty, but he couldn't apologise. Not yet. Later. "Okay, then. Let's get to moving." He pulled on his gloves and pressed the button to open the cargo bay doors, letting the air of Amnesty inside.


	3. Chapter 3

_Now …_

Falling.

Landscape swirling crazily outside the window.

Ground coming up awful fast.

Noise seeming to go on forever, metal dying, screaming, screeching, tearing itself apart.

Pain.

Smoke.

Have to get out.

Have to get out NOW.

Scrambling through the hull, blood wiped away from eyes.

Tasting it.

Smelling it.

Run.

Run faster, don't stagger.

Someone … something pushing, noise filling the air, lifting, tossing …

Flying.

Is this what they feel like all the time?

Ground coming up awful fast. Again.

Merciful Buddha, make me a stone …

---

_Then …_

Mal led the way out into Amnesty's chill air, biting into his skin through his coat.

"How come it's so cold?" Kaylee asked, wrapping her arms up inside her poncho and looking towards the sun sitting low on the horizon. "I mean, if this side faces the same way all the time, shouldn't it be warmer than this?"

"We're too far from the sun, _mei-mei_," Zoe explained. "And from what I saw of the scans as Hank brought us in to land, there's very little geo-thermal activity."

"Ah." Kaylee understood. With the distance from any external source of heat, and no local volcanic or thermic activity, they were lucky it wasn't a whole lot worse. "Just glad this ain't in the dark side, then."

"Yeah. Me too." Zoe glanced over her shoulder towards Serenity, and saw Hank and Simon standing on the ramp.

Something howled in the distance, maybe just the wind, but Mal's hand automatically went towards his gun as he searched the surrounding landscape. Nothing moved.

"Okay, let's just get this done and get back, okay?" he said, relaxing not a millimetre.

"Yes sir," Zoe said.

They walked quickly towards the derelicts, the exercise at least creating some warmth in their bodies. This, however, was soon leached away as they stepped into the shadows, where broken walls loomed over them and the temperature dropped even further.

Kaylee shivered. "Well, ain't this pretty," she said, chattering to keep her spirits up from where they'd plummeted into her boots. "Ain't never been around so many different ships that I can recall. Leastways, none that didn't actually work."

"Kaylee -" Zoe began, but Mal shook his head slightly. _Let her talk_, he was saying. _Better than the silence_.

"What?" The young mechanic hadn't seen the look pass between them.

"I … was just wondering … how you can tell these ever flew," Zoe asked lamely, but the young woman didn't seem to notice.

"Well, that's a Trans U," Kaylee said, pointing to a distinctive shape rising up into the sky. "The curve of the bow section tells you that."

"Of course."

"And that there's a Hyperion." She chuckled. "Have to say, I ain't never seen one of them in the sky. Don't look like I ever will, either."

"Not a good ship?"

"They were okay. Just they had a tendency to lose bits when coming into or out of atmo."

"Like primary buffer panels?"

The chuckle lengthened. "Like that. Only more important."

"Anything falling off my ship is important," Mal put in absently, feeling fragments of metal crunching grittily under his boots as he led the way deeper into the graveyard.

"Oh, not saying it ain't, Cap'n. But I try not to let it happen. Too much."

"See that you don't."

Kaylee suddenly darted forward, and he reached out a hand to stop her, but she had bent forward and picked something up. "Ooh, a Jefferson bolt!"

"A what?"

"I ain't seen one of these in a month of Sundays, not since a Tyrell put in to Phoros and needed some repair." She looked up sadly at the twisted hull of the vessel next to her. "Guess they don't make them like they used to, either."

"Is it useful?" Zoe asked. "Can _we_ use it?"

"Nope," Kaylee admitted. She held it up. "But it's awful pretty."

Zoe looked at it, and even Mal took a glance. It looked like a bolt to him, but the end seemed to resemble some kind of flower.

"Yeah, very sweet," he said. "Can we get on?"

Kaylee wrinkled her nose at him, but tucked the bolt into her pocket.

"I thought you said it wasn't useful," Zoe pointed out.

"Yeah, but maybe I can make it into something else."

Zoe shook her head. "You start doing that and you won't be able to walk by the time we get back to Serenity."

"Which is going to be an age, if we don't get moving," Mal said impatiently.

"Okay, okay, Cap'n," Kaylee said. "Keep your shirt on."

"My shirt is fine where it is," Mal said firmly, walking off again.

"Didn't say it wasn't." Kaylee grinned at Zoe, who realised the young woman knew exactly what she was doing.

---

"Creepy, ain't it?" Hank said, staring at the struts and supports reaching up to touch the sky a few hundred yards away.

Simon nodded. "Just the thought of all those people … there must have been thousands."

"I'm kinda surprised there's so much left," Hank went on. "I mean, if the Alliance did blow this lot out of the sky, you'd'a thought there'd only be so much scrap left, let alone being able to recognise individual ships like you can."

"Zoe didn't think it necessarily was the Alliance."

"Who else? The Independents? Firing on their own people?" Hank shook his head. "Better not go suggesting that when the Cap can hear."

"Maybe there was … an accident of some kind. One ship blew, took out the next, and so on. It might happen," Simon insisted, seeing the look of disbelief on the other man's face.

"It might. If they were flying so close you could step from one hull to the next. And any pilot worth his salt would never do that."

"Maybe they weren't as good as you."

"True. There ain't that many like me around."

"I'd say thank God, only you'd probably take it the wrong way."

"Oh, more'n likely." He blew on his hands, rubbing them together.

"Shouldn't we close the doors?" Simon asked.

"Why? We all got inocked. Even the kids."

"I didn't mean that. I meant to keep the heat in."

"I suppose." Hank seemed reluctant though. "I just …"

"Need to be ready," River said, ghosting up behind them.

"Ready? Ready for what?" Simon asked, turning to his sister.

"I'm not sure." She shook her head. "I can't think straight here."

Simon stared at her. "What's the problem?" He glanced back towards the dead ships. "Is it Kaylee?"

"I don't know." She shook her head again, as if trying to clear some blockage somewhere. "I … there's too much … too much metal, too many thoughts … screams …"

Her brother took her into his arms, feeling her tense against him. "_Mei-mei_, if there's going to be trouble -"

She pulled back. "I don't know. I can't tell past from present from future. Tumbling …" She closed her eyes, her face screwing up around them. When she opened them again it was the more normal River looking back, but her words still didn't help. "I don't know, Simon. It's as if I'm drowning, and I can't hear the words."

"What about Bethie?"

"She's with Ben."

"I didn't mean that. I meant -"

"She feels … it's the same for her." River stared at him for a moment. "I can't …" She backed up then ran for the crew quarters.

Simon wanted to follow, but wasn't sure what good he could do. Not for the first time, and entirely against his better nature, he wished Jayne were here. So instead he turned to the pilot. "Hank, can you contact them?"

The pilot shook his head too. "River's right, at least in that respect. Too much metal, and there's that residual radiation from the different ships' cores … we'll never get a signal through." He put his hand on the young man's arm, and squeezed. "Come on, doc. This is your sis we're talking about. Remember when she started issuing dire warnings four weeks ago about lots of blood during that job on Beylix? Turned out that all Mal got was a couple of splinters and a paper cut."

Simon nodded. "I know. It's just …"

"Yeah."

---

By the time they'd almost reached the Firefly Kaylee's pockets were already bulging.

"What're you gonna do with all that crap?" Mal finally asked, just a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"It ain't crap!" Kaylee said indignantly. "It's … useful."

"Really." Mal plucked the latest piece of flotsam from her fingers and waved it in front of her face. "You explain to me, in words of one syllable, how this is useful."

She snatched it back. "It looks like a bird."

He stared at her. "So that makes it useful … how, exactly?"

His mechanic looked just a little shame-faced. "'Cause I'm gonna make it into something."

"What?" She mumbled. "What?" he demanded.

"A mobile," she said more clearly. "To hang over Hope's crib. You know, all shiny and pretty."

"I wouldn't bother, Kaylee," Zoe advised. "It's too feminine for the captain to understand."

"I know what a mobile is!" Mal countered. "I ain't that much of a … a philistine."

"A who?" Kaylee asked, darting forwards again. Then she stopped. "Oh."

"What is it?" Mal asked, his hand close to his gun as he looked down at what she'd seen. "Kaylee …"

"I guess … s'pose I shoulda …" She swallowed, gazing at the broken doll, missing one leg and lying face down in the debris. "Someone's … mebbe their favourite."

Mal put his arm around her shoulders. "C'mon, _mei-mei_. It's just a doll. There's prob'ly worse around here if we look too hard."

She nodded. "It's just … it brings it home." She felt Mal stiffen, and she turned to stare into his eyes, her face pink with mortification. "Oh, Cap'n, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean -"

He squeezed gently. "It's okay. It's just ships. Ain't nothing more." He smiled a little. "We got things to do, _dong mah_?"

"_Shr ah_," she agreed, blinking hurriedly. She stood up straighter. "'N' I can see the Firefly over there."

"That's my girl," he said softly.

---

River sat in the shuttle, Vera in pieces on the bed in front of her, trying to concentrate. With her eyes closed, she reassembled the Callahan, but her mind was elsewhere.

Something was wrong. She couldn't tell what, or where. It was like … like trying to load Betsy wearing mittens. Every time she grabbed hold of it, the knowledge skittered away, flying to the four corners of the 'verse, forcing her to reach out to gather the pieces again.

Something on this planet was affecting her. Something natural, or something distinctly artificial, whatever it was made her fuzzy, like Jayne after too many beers.

She looked down at the gun, fully assembled and ready to play. Except she wasn't sure how effective Vera would be against ghosts.

Standing up, she walked to the shuttle's small bridge, sliding into the seat and running her fingers over the controls, planning the start-up sequence in her mind. Just to be ready.

---

"Can you see what she was called, sir?" Zoe asked, looking up at the bow of the Firefly. The entire belly of the vessel had been blown out, but whether from the landing or from whatever caused her to crash was unclear. She'd ended up with her nose high, while her tail had dug into the ground.

"Ain't too … kinda faded," Mal admitted, squinting slightly from where the angle of the sun was hitting the name plate. "Looks like … maybe Solitude."

"Seems almost appropriate, doesn't it?"

"Might not be reading it right, though. Could say Sex Goddess."

Zoe smiled. "I think we'll stick with Solitude," she suggested.

"Happen you're right," Mal agreed. "Can't say I want anyone to be asking where I got that part from, and having to say I boarded the Sex Goddess to get it."

"I'm sure Freya would forgive you."

"Wouldn't want to swear -"

A scream inside the Firefly had them both drawing their guns and running inside through the broken hull.

"Kaylee!" Mal bellowed.

"Up here, Cap'n," came a shaky voice. "I'm … I'm okay."

"Then what're you yelling like you've seen a whole passel of dead folks for?" he demanded, climbing the rusty stairs three at a time and ignoring the squeals of protest from the corroded metal.

"Guess it's 'cause I have," Kaylee said shakily, standing in the doorway to the dining area, her back to it.

Mal looked over her shoulder. With the floor at such an angle, everything remotely not nailed down had been flung to the far end of the room, and a large table, very like theirs, blocked the exit at the far end. Chairs were locked together in a tangle of rigor, tied up with cables and fragments of conduits. But what had made Kaylee scream the way she did was in the small seating area.

Four bodies, held in place by safety harnesses, and all frozen in the very act of dying.

"Zoe," Mal said softly, and he and his first mate walked carefully down the canted floor to the corpses.

"How come they're still pretty much in one piece?" she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to alarm Kaylee any more than she had been.

"I guess there ain't that much moisture around." He leaned forward, but the smell of decay was very faint. "Conjure they're mummified."

"Crew or passengers?"

"Never know." He felt a sadness almost overwhelm him. "But they didn't deserve this."

From the clothes, at least one of them was a woman, and the shine of a ring on her left hand indicated she had been married. Probably to the man on her right, since the bones of her other hand were entangled forever with his. Or maybe they were just friends. Hell, could have been mortal enemies, but in those last seconds before the Firefly spilled its guts on this rock maybe she just needed to touch someone.

"No, sir, they didn't."

"You think they all died on impact?"

Zoe shrugged. "Better to think they did, I'm figuring."

"Yeah." He felt a shiver run up his spine. Better by far to think it was quick, rather than having crashed and not been killed outright, and so badly injured that all you could do was just wait for dehydration or starvation to kill you … like other valleys and other times …

"Sir."

He looked at her, his strong right arm, his friend through thick and thin … and even she didn't really know what he was thinking at this moment. How they could be family … He stood upright. "Yeah. Let's get this stuff moved so Kaylee can get to the engine room."

She nodded, and between them they lifted the tangle of furniture away, building a wall between the bodies and the room.

"Kaylee," Zoe finally called.

"I don't know if I can …" The young mechanic was leaning with her back to the bulkhead.

Mal climbed the floor to her. "Come on, _mei-mei_. I've seen you dispatch Reavers. A few old bones ain't gonna stop you."

"It's just … this is a Firefly, Mal."

He understood. Even more so since she used his name, something that was so rare he always thought he should put it in his diary. If'n he kept one. "I know. Makes it worse. But you've got a job to do." He put on a smile for her. "Best mechanic floatin'."

Her lips twitched. "That I am." She took a deep breath and dragged a torch from one of her many pockets.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

He led her through the room, keeping himself between her and the barricade, just in case she saw something she shouldn't, then he handed her over to Zoe.

"Are we …" He nodded towards the engine room, just visible in the darkness.

"All clear," she said quietly.

She'd checked, made sure there were no other unwelcome surprises. Quite how Kaylee'd take to seeing this ship's mechanic in pieces he wasn't entirely sure. "Then better get that part."

"On my way, Cap'n." She fairly scampered through the corridor, the torch light bouncing.

"Keep an eye on her, Zo," Mal said softly. "I'm just gonna go check the bridge."

"Is that a good idea, sir?"

"Prob'ly not." He grinned a little. "But since when have I been known for following through on my good ideas?"

"As long as I didn't have to say it." She nodded and followed Kaylee.

Mal pulled himself up the corridor, climbing the almost vertical steps onto what felt like home ground. Approaching the pilot's seat, he steeled himself for what he knew was going to be there.

He'd gone down with his ship. Staring forever out of the window, into a sky that would never see the stars, he was pinned into his seat by the control yoke, pressing into his chest. Not that he could have got very far, even if that hadn't happened. Just a swift glance down the body gave Mal the information that both the man's legs had broken, probably compound fractures at that. Maybe he thought he'd managed to glide the Firefly down, landed her well enough that his crew, his family could get out, could survive where he hadn't, maybe even help him. Mal prayed he hadn't lived long enough to realise no-one was coming.

One hand was still touching the yoke where it had smashed his ribs, but the other was laid on the controls, proprietorially, affectionately … Mal almost expected to see dinosaurs ranged across the console, but instead there was just dust blown in through the shattered window.

He'd never met this man. He'd died before Mal had ever known what it was to captain a Firefly, yet there was a kinship that could never be broken. Standing as straight as he could, Mal saluted.

"Sir." Zoe's voice, quietly reaching out to him in this moment of contemplation. "We're ready to head back."

Mal gave one more glance to the eyeless, ancient face, then turned his back. "Kaylee got the part?"

"She says it's better'n the one we're throwing away."

"Since that particular one don't actually work, I'm trying to figure out if that's a good thing."

"It's almost brand new, Cap'n!" Kaylee said brightly, having gotten over her scare. "Should last us a good few years."

"It had better. 'Cause I ain't coming back here again. Not in this lifetime." He joined them by the stairs. "Come on. Before the whole place collapses."

"Aye aye, Cap'n, sir!"

---

_Now …_

Words.

Half sentences strung out in the ether.

Familiar voices that bite and sting as much as other wounds.

Gaps that don't fill.

"Can't you wake … up?"

"If I wake … ready I could cause … damage."

"I don't care!"

"I do. … a doctor."

"And … wife. Let alone …"

"Just let … work."

"Then wake … up!"


	4. Chapter 4

_Then …_

"Any idea what's taking them so long?" Simon asked, dropping into the co-pilot's seat.

Hank turned and smiled at him. "Knowing Kaylee, she's probably annoyed the hell out of Mal by wanting to pick up more trinkets."

Simon nodded. "Sometimes I think she loves engines more than me."

"Not that much more, doc."

The young man shot Hank a disgusted look, but it just rolled off him. "Anyway, I thought she understood this place was getting to Mal," he said finally.

"Yeah, but this is Kaylee we're talking about. Ever cheerful, ain't gonna let anything get her down …" Hank laughed. "Sure as hell ain't gonna let Mal stay in the doldrums for that long."

"Still, he was more than normally uptight."

"Not surprising, though, is it?" Hank waved a hand towards the scene in front of them. "Likely some of his kin died out there. Not sure I'd want to be walking through it, knowing that."

"Then that's all the more reason why they should be hurrying."

"Place got to you too?" the pilot asked, surprised.

"It's just … River talking the way she was, and when I looked in on Bethany she was in a state too. I think it's only being given charge of Ben that's keeping her from hiding in the infirmary again."

"Mal said there were no inhabitants. Something about this planet not being good enough even for the most foolhardy settler. And the radiation … hell, you'd have to be crazy to hang around here."

"I know. It just … doesn't help."

Glancing at the shipboard chronometer, Hank stirred uneasily in his seat. "You know, it has been a while. Maybe …" He shook his head, trying to dislodge the warning bells ringing. "Nah. I mean, Zoe's there with him. Between the two of 'em, there ain't much they can't handle."

"I just wish the coms worked," Simon said.

"Yeah, that does …" Hank stood up. "Look, I know they're gonna shout at me, but I'm gonna go take a look."

"Hank, I don't –"

"Just a look. Don't worry, I ain't going in on foot. I'll take the shuttle. I can get pretty low, and I know which Firefly they were headed for. Shouldn't take me more'n a few minutes to find 'em."

"Mal will be pissed."

"Like I care." Hank ran his hands through his untidy brown hair. "That's my fiancé out there, doc."

"Then I'll come with you. My wife, too."

"Nope. Like I said, only be a few minutes, so you stay back and guard the fort. If it looks like there's trouble, send up a flare."

"Hank, the com isn't working."

"Then get out onto the hull and wave something." He grinned, but it wasn't his usual. "Just a few minutes, Simon."

---

River felt the other shuttle take off, and for a moment her mind was clear. He wasn't going to find them. They weren't there. Gone. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to see where, but the fog closed in again. It was just a case of waiting …

---

_Now …_

"I told you -"

"Doc."

"Mal?"

He peeled his eyelids open, then wished he hadn't. It was too bright, and the pain didn't go when he closed them again.

"Ask him." Hank's voice, with more anger than he had ever heard.

"No. Just stand back."

"Then I'll gorram ask!"

"Hank, leave."

"What? No. I ain't going, not until I know -"

"Then shut up."

"Can't you _all_ just shut up?" Mal asked. "And turn the lights down."

Someone adjusted the setting and he was able to open his eyes again without daggers being driven through them.

"Mal, can you hear me?"

"Doc." Mal licked his lips. "I hear you. Can't help but hear you. You're shouting."

"I'm not," the young doctor said, but lowered his tone nevertheless. "Do you know where you are?"

Mal tried to lift his head but the pain almost made him pass out. "_Ga ni niang_," he muttered.

"Well, his cussing muscles ain't affected," Hank muttered in the background.

"Don't try and move, Mal. You probably have concussion, and it looks like a hairline fracture, as well as some other –."

"What happened?"

"What?"

"What happened? Was there a … did we get ambushed or something?"

"Doc …" Hank sounded agitated.

"You don't remember?" Simon's voice was at once soothing as well as anxious.

"Remember what?" Mal slowly moved his head until he could see the blob that was probably the young doctor. He tried to focus. "What the hell happened?"

"That's what we want to know," Hank put in.

"Mal, what's the last thing you remember?" Simon asked, his features slowly becoming clearer.

He screwed up his forehead, trying to think. "Leaving Serenity," he realised. "Setting down on …" He looked up sharply, ignoring the pain lancing through his skull. "We still on Amnesty?"

"Yes. But you said leaving Serenity. When? To do what?"

"We were going to find that part Kaylee wanted." His eyes narrowed. "You know this. You were watching us. You saw us go."

"Mal, that was nearly fourteen hours ago."

"What?" He tried to sit up, but the pain was now so bad he turned onto his side and vomited onto the floor.

"I told you not to move." Simon helped him lie back down. "Definitely concussion."

Mal could taste the acid in his mouth. "What the hell are you talking about? Fourteen hours?"

"You walked out of here a more than half a day ago, Mal, going to that Firefly. We -"

Hank couldn't hold it back any longer. "Where's Zoe, Mal?"

"What?"

"Where's Zoe? She left with you."

"I know that." He tried to look down towards the common area without moving his head, but from what he could see there was no sign of his first mate. "Where is she?"

"That's what I'm asking." Hank was getting more and more perturbed.

Mal felt as if the entire infirmary were spinning around. "I don't understand."

"Then I'll make it real simple for you," the pilot said, pushing Simon out of the way so Mal could see him clearly. "Fourteen hours ago you walked out of here, taking Zoe and Kaylee with you. An hour ago we picked you up near the wreckage of a shuttle. So I'm asking you again. Where's Zoe?"

"And Kaylee," Simon added quietly.

"What?"

"Where's my wife?"

---

River hurried to the bridge. No time to ask permission now, even though he was awake. Argue later. She tilted her head as she started the sequence. Not that they were waiting.

---

"_Just be a few minutes, Cap'n."_

Mal jerked, hearing her voice.

"_There's such a lot of good stuff here. Surprised no-one's ever come here before, considering. Could make something of a small fortune out of the parts."_

"_I ain't looking to start a scrapyard, Kaylee."_

His own, trying to be firm with her.

"_Then just let me go back. For a while. An hour, tops. Might be something really worthwhile." She pulled out the big guns. "Might be a catalyzer worth the salvaging."_

"Mal? What is it?" Simon leaned over him.

"_That ain't fair, little Kaylee. And I didn't think you'd be wanting to go back in there."_

"_Not there, maybe. But there's that other Firefly. It wasn't too far."_

"_Kaylee, we came for the regulator. We've got the regulator. If you think I'm gonna -"_

The voices stopped as Mal felt his boat rock as she powered up.

Hank looked up towards where the bridge was. "What the –"

Simon realised, quicker than any of them. "River."

The pilot was out of the door and running up the stairs, but even he wasn't quick enough. They felt Serenity take off, the slight push of extra gravity before the artificial variety compensated.

"River, we talked about this …" Hank shouted, turning the last corner and pounding along the corridor. He leaped up the stairs, expecting to see the window turning black, with the tiny diamonds of stars hanging in the velvet … except it _was_ black, but there were no stars.

There was a sigh as the Firefly settled back onto the ground.

"River, where the hell are we?" Hank asked quietly, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"Safe here," River said soothingly, staring out into the blackness. "They won't come here." She turned to smile at Hank. "Afraid."

---

"We're landed again." Simon sounded shocked.

"You think?" Mal couldn't tell for sure, beyond the pounding in his head. "Gorramit, can you give me something for the pain?"

The young doctor immediately prepared a hypo, injecting it into the captain's arm. "Mal, you have to remember. What happened?"

He shook his head, then wished he hadn't as a fresh wave of nausea came over him.

"I can help." River stood in the doorway, Hank behind her.

"What're you doing to my ship?" Mal asked, trying to focus on her.

"Locked her down. Can't go anywhere. Safe for now."

He lay his head back and closed his eyes. "River, I know we damn well had the conversation when we agreed you wouldn't talk like that to me no more. Your brother, fine. But the captain? Not so much."

She stepped over the sill, crossing the room silently in bare feet. "I have taken us somewhere safe, where they won't find us. They are afraid of the dark, so they won't follow."

"What?"

She sighed. "See? I use proper words and you still don't understand."

"Who?" Simon asked. "Who won't find us?"

"I don't know. That's locked in here." River gently touched Mal's temple. "I can't get to it."

"Then how'd you know -"

She moved her fingers to his lips. "Saw them coming. With my eyes. Heading out of the graveyard. Too many to count."

"Saw who?" Hank asked, pushing forwards again.

"Ghosts."

---

_Then …_

"If you think I'm gonna … Kaylee, let's just get back to Serenity," Mal said his hands on his hips. "And the answer's still gonna be the same. I want to be off this rock before nightfall."

"Nightfall?" Kaylee twinkled at him. "No such thing."

"You know what I mean."

"Just an hour. There's bound to be –"

"Kaylee, what part of _no_ didn't you get?"

"I just think –"

"Kaylee." Zoe spoke quietly.

The young mechanic bit her lip. She knew she'd gone too far, arguing with the Cap like that, but she couldn't help it. Something about this place got her all turned around.

Mal watched her face, and put his hand on her shoulder. "You wanna walk in on more folks that didn't make it? 'Cause you're acting like you're all hot for it."

She swatted his hand away. "That's disgusting," she said, lifting her chin and glaring at him.

"Then do as I say."

"Cap –"

"Zoe, if she ain't moving in the next three seconds you have my permission to duct-tape her mouth and carry her."

"Yes sir."

"Cap'n!"

"Two. One."

She laughed, and the bright sound lifted his heart. "Okay, okay. No need to act all superior over it."

"I am superior," Mal pointed out. "I'm captain."

She lifted the therm regulator. "Then we'd better be getting back so I can get this fitted." She strode off away from the Firefly. "You coming?" she asked over her shoulder.

Mal and Zoe exchanged looks, then followed, the former shaking his head, the latter trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

"I'm just glad to find a regulator that looks like it'll work," Kaylee continued to chatter. "There weren't no guarantee it wouldn't've been rusted solid. But whoever took care of that Firefly knew what they were doing."

"A good mechanic?" Zoe asked.

"Might even have been an engineer."

"What's the difference?"

"About ten percent, according to the –"

"Kaylee." Mal had caught up with her, taken her by the arm and drawn her back into the shadows.

"What?"

"Shh."

Zoe was instantly at their side, her eyes ranging across the derelicts around them. "Sir?"

"Something ahead of us." Mal drew his gun slowly, keeping it low so it wasn't too obvious.

"Salvagers?"

He shook his head. "No way to know."

"Can we get round them?"

"Maybe. 'Cept we could get lost in this maze."

"Com won't work."

"Yeah."

"Cap'n …" Kaylee was feeling the fear building inside her.

"Just stay close to me," Mal said softly. "Won't let anything happen to you." He eased forward. "Just stay in the shadows. Maybe we can –"

The assault, when it came, was so fast they had no chance.

---

_Now …_

"River …" Simon was using the special voice, the one that meant he was about to get out the smoother.

"People, Simon. With guns. Coming to take Serenity."


	5. Chapter 5

_Now …_

"People?"

"Guns?"

"River, what the _tyen shiao duh_ are you talking about?" Mal asked, feeling the painkiller working, just taking the edge off the agony in his skull.

She looked into his blue eyes, trying to make him understand. "Men. With guns. Coming out of the graveyard. I could … not _feel_ them, but I knew they were coming for us. So I took us away."

"Away?" Mal knew he was sounding like an idiot, but he couldn't help it. "Where to?"

"The dark side. Not far, but enough so that they won't follow. We're in a cave."

"Oh." Hank understood now why he couldn't see the stars from the bridge. If the Firefly been sitting out in the open they would still have been visible, but in a cave …

"Who are they? These people?" Mal continued his questioning.

"I don't know," River said regretfully. "But you do."

"I do?" He shook his head carefully, putting that aside for a moment. "And how come they ain't gonna just follow us if we ain't far?"

"Because they're afraid of the dark. Of what lives here."

"What lives …" Mal levered himself onto his elbows, ignoring the pain now. "What … lives here?"

River smiled. "Us, right now. And other things. But they can't get in. I've locked us up tight."

Hank had been getting more and more angry. "This is crazy," he muttered, heading for the door. "I'm gonna take us back. Find Zoe."

"You can't," River said. "I've changed the access code. And you'll never guess it."

He turned on her. "Tell me!"

She stood her ground. "No."

Hank took hold of her arms, squeezing tightly. "Tell me, River, or so help me …"

"No."

"That's my fiancée out there …" His anger was still raging, but there was a terrible feeling of foreboding as well. "River, please."

"No."

"Let me take us back -"

"And do what? Charge into a situation where we don't know what we're dealing with?"

"Since when do we care about that?"

"Hank, much as it pains me to admit it, but River's right," Mal said, laying back, desperately wanting to sleep but knowing he mustn't. "I … I can't remember what happened. I don't even know where they are."

Simon was trying to hold it together, to keep his professionalism on the surface, but underneath he was as anxious as Hank. "Mal, we don't have time for this."

"I know that, doc."

"No. You don't." His face was paler than ever. "Those inocks I gave everyone … they were designed to last twenty hours. No more."

Mal's eyes flew wide. "Twenty … why?"

"It wasn't necessary. You said we were only going to be here a short while." He took a calming breath. "They're only good for another six hours."

"What'll happen then?"

"The radiation will start to affect …" He swallowed. "Mal, we have to find them."

"God." Mal closed his eyes again, trying to see through -

"The fog." River laid her fingertips on his forehead, making him jump and stare at her. "Cotton candy pink. Sticks to everything."

"River …" Mal ground out.

"Let me help." Her big eyes fixed on his. "Let me break the barriers."

Mal shook his head. "River, I ain't … it's only Frey -"

"Mother isn't here." She took his hand. "We won't go where you don't want us to. Only these _recent_ memories."

"Can't you just look?" Somehow, the idea of leading her into his mind, past the locked doors of thoughts too painful to bring into the light of day, made him shudder. Even Frey, in her most intimate moments, only stroked his subconscious, filling him but not delving into the dark corners. He'd always appreciated that - he didn't know if he'd ever be able to invite even the woman he'd die for into some of them.

"I won't do that," the young woman said softly, answering his unspoken query. Her fingers entwined with his. "And I can't look, can't see … your barriers are too strong."

"Mine?" Mal was almost pleasantly surprised.

"Your interactions with Freya have strengthened them."

"Can't keep her out, though."

"Don't want to."

Hank stepped forward, his hands rolling round each other like he wanted to strangle something. "Mal, this ain't helping. And Ben needs his momma."

Mal still gazed at his albatross, but nodded slowly. "Okay." He swallowed. "But is this gonna be like when I … after Wing …" He had a mental image of a horse, a dragon, and a man in a Hawaiian shirt …

"No. Just … you'll remember."

"Okay. Do it."

She put her hand back on his forehead. "Close your eyes."

---

_Then …_

A howl in the distance, and his hand went to his gun. He could feel it at his hip, knew he was still in the infirmary, but he was here too. Here … then he forgot it was a memory.

… "That's a Trans U. The curve of the bow section tells you that."

… "Anything falling off my ship is important."

… "Ooh, a Jefferson bolt!"

… A doll, broken, face down.

… Her name was Solitude. Her captain, just a dried-out husk in the pilot's chair, staring sightlessly out into the eternal day. A salute, as crisp as he could make it.

… "Might be a catalyzer worth the salvaging." "That ain't fair, little Kaylee."

… "Nightfall? No such thing."

… "Shh."

"Sir?"

"Something ahead of us."

"Salvagers?"

"No way to know."

"Can we get round them?"

"Maybe. 'Cept we could get lost in this maze."

"Com won't work."

"Yeah."

"Cap'n …"

"Just stay close to me. Won't let anything happen to you. Just stay in the shadows. Maybe we can –"

Something moved, but even as he lifted his gun to aim, to fire if needed, there was a slight sound behind him, and Kaylee shrieked. Mal turned, seeing someone holding her, a gun to her neck.

"Move, she dies," the man said through cracked lips, his voice guttural, almost as if he wasn't used to .talking much. "And it won't be easy. For her."

"It's okay," Mal said soothingly, seeing more figures appear out of the corner of his eye. "No-one's gonna do anything drastic."

"Drop your weapons."

"Fine." Mal let his gun fall to the ground, saw Zoe do the same. "Let her go now."

"Where's your ship?"

"Why don't you just -"

The man pressed the gun barrel harder into Kaylee's neck and she gasped. "Where is it?"

"It's gone," he lied. "Coming back for us in a few hours." He could see the fear on her face. "Look, my name's Malcolm Reynolds. And that's my mechanic you're scaring. Just let her go and we'll talk."

"Reynolds?"

"Let her go. Please."

The man glanced around, nodded at one of his colleagues who darted in and picked up the guns. When he'd backed away, the man roughly pushed Kaylee forwards.

She half fell into Mal's arms.

"Kaylee?"

"I'm okay, Cap'n."

"He didn't hurt you?"

She rubbed her neck. "Nothing won't heal."

"Walk." The man gestured with his rifle.

"Ain't going anywhere 'til you tell us why." Mal still held Kaylee, feeling her beginning to tremble.

There was an ominous clicking as safeties were removed from various guns surrounding them.

"Could just shoot you," the man said. "Ain't no difference to me. 'Cept Pius might be mad."

"Pius?"

The man was starting to get irritated. "Get going or I'll shoot ya anyway."

"Your name ain't Cobb, is it?"

His brow furrowed a little, and Mal could see a sore in his hairline oozing slightly. He wiped it absently away with the back of his hand. "Move."

Mal glanced at Zoe, knowing she was ready to follow his lead, into hell if need be, but with Kaylee here … "Okay. We're coming. Only is it just sight-seeing, or are we actually going some place?"

"You're going to see Pius."

"Great. Fine." Mal started walked, his mind firing. Pius wasn't that usual a name. And these folks were all from Shadow. He glanced at Zoe, who'd taken Kaylee from him. She couldn't know, wouldn't know … If he could just believe it now …

The men led them through the maze of ships, into the centre of the graveyard, ignoring Mal's attempt to get them to talk. They appeared to be making a beeline for an old Lonsdale freighter, crunched into the landscape like the rest of them, nose first, stern nothing more than a skeleton of bones worn thin by the howling wind and driving sand.

"That it?" Mal asked, not believing this could be their final destination, a ship almost entirely crumpled in on itself.

The man ignored him, instead knocking on the only stable-looking section of metal. A hatch slid open a little, a gun poking out of the gap.

"Bates, that you?"

"Who the hell else you think it'd be?"

"You got them?"

"I got them. Now let us in. We gotta see Pius."

"Why? Ain't you just gonna taken 'em to the -"

"Open up, Roseby, 'fore I put a bullet through you."

There was mutterings, but the hatch slid further open.

Bates, wiping more liquid from his forehead, motioned to them. "Get inside."

"Well, I'm not sure you're ready for guests …" Mal began.

"Just do it." Bates sounded resigned. "Ain't saying again. Just shoot ya in the leg and carry ya."

"Good point," Mal conceded, and led the women into the dark interior. "Now what?"

"Follow me. And don't do anything stupid. There's people all around you."

---

_Now …_

"How long does this take?" Hank asked, his anxiety showing in its usual way, by him rubbing his hands together until they were tinder dry, then pushing them through his scruffy hair.

"I don't know," Simon said quietly, not taking his eyes off his sister. "We still don't know everything about how memories are made, stored … what triggers them -"

"Shh." River didn't move from her position, but the sound had an urgency to it.

"Sorry."

"Well, I can't stand here doing nothing," Hank muttered. "It'll send me crazy. I'm gonna see if I can guess that access code, get us going again." When the young doctor didn't answer, he shook his head and strode out of the infirmary.

---

_Then …_

Bates and several of the other gunmen escorted their prisoners down a series of narrow inclines, ignoring a number of side tunnels, until they came out into a large cave. Although it appeared natural, the area had been divided into living quarters by what appeared to be salvaged panels from the ships above, and blankets and other accoutrements of living were visible. Several, though, were empty, dusty, with no personal effects.

"This where you've been living?" Mal asked, his voice hushed.

"Safer than up top," Bates said, trudging past faces peering out at them.

"Sir," Zoe spoke softly. "No children."

"Yeah."

Bates glanced back. "No talking."

"Sorry, yes, you're right. No talking," Mal agreed. "Just breathing."

"You wanna keep doing that, you just do what you're told."

Finally they were led through into a chamber the size of a large room, evidently a sort of meeting area from the number of chairs arranged around the walls.

"Pius," Bates called. He turned to Mal. "You wait." He moved closer to an exit at the back of the area. "Pius!"

"What's all the noise?" asked a man, stepping through from the back. He was tall, but his shoulders were stooped as if from carrying heavy weights, or a lifetime of being in a small, confined space. He was almost entirely bald, except for wisps of white hair still attached to the back of his skull, but his face was still handsome, despite the scars it carried, like sores that had healed after a long illness. "Did you get those …" He stopped as he realised they were not alone. "What are they doing here?"

"Pius, I had to bring them." Bates was almost begging for approval. "This girl … he says she's a mechanic. Maybe she can fix that processor that's been playing up. And maybe -"

"That's still no reason why you didn't take them to the cells."

"There's more. This one … he says his name's Reynolds."

Pius turned sharply, his dark, almost black eyes darting to Mal's face. "Reynolds?" He took a step closer.

It was him. Mal almost wanted to blink hard, shake his head, then look again. It had been near enough twenty years, but that voice, those eyes … "Pius Sorrell," he muttered.

The man looked at him, really looked at him this time, and there was a flash of recognition. "Malcolm?"


	6. Chapter 6

_Then …_

Pius Sorrell had owned the ranch that butted up next to the Reynolds' place on Shadow. Bigger and with more cattle, Pius used this to gain influence in the community, something Mrs Reynolds never bothered with. She could make her feelings known without having to stand in front of the Town Council and shout about it. Still, they shared the river for watering the herds, and Mal was often being sent over to deliver a few Sorrell steers that had been caught up on Reynolds' land, or to collect a few wayward cows mixed in with theirs. Pius would always invite him inside, talk to him like he was a man, about the things he heard about on his private Cortex link, things going on in the 'verse outside. It was how Mal first learned about the unrest in the border worlds.

And Amy. Sorrell's daughter. A few years older than Mal, they'd gone out once or twice, while he was playing hard to get with Maddy, but it was just fun, and she had all these grand plans of going off and being a doctor. Had gone to medical school, but come back each long holiday to stay with her father. They'd had a good time, in that summer before the war began in earnest.

Now here he was, standing in front of him, older of course, but still a man of influence.

"Malcolm?"

"Mr Sorrell." He felt his body try to stand more upright, like it always had when he'd gone visiting.

"Malcolm Reynolds." Pius shook his head, and put his hands on the younger man's shoulders. "I never thought to see … least of all you."

"Well, it's something of a surprise my own self."

Pius looked him up and down. "And you're doing well, it seems."

"Got me a boat, if that's what you mean."

"And a good crew?"

"They're okay."

"I'm sure they're better than that." Pius smiled, then looked past Mal at the armed men behind him. "It's all right. You can put your weapons away. Malcolm isn't going to harm me." He looked back. "Are you?"

"Well, I'm still holding judgement on that, truth to say. You've kidnapped me and mine, and I don't take too kindly to that."

Pius laughed. "You've grown up, Malcolm."

"Had to. Kinda goes with the territory of being a man."

"I'm sorry you were treated like that. We get occasional ships landing, trying to salvage what isn't theirs … we have to keep an eye on things like that, particularly if it's something we can use." He let go and went to sit down in the centre chair, slightly bigger and higher than the rest. "What brings you here?"

"Curiosity," Mal said. "We were in the neighbourhood, not been here before … just thought we'd take a look. All those tales of ghosts …" He smiled. "'Sides, my mechanic's a pack rat. Wanted to see if there wasn't something we could make a profit on."

Kaylee patted her pockets where they were full of the bits she'd picked up. "Can't help it," she said brightly, almost disguising the tremble in her voice.

"Are you really a mechanic? You seem very young."

"Oh, I manage. And Serenity ain't that hard to work on." She leaned forward a little. "Tell the truth, I make out like it's a lot harder, just to keep my job."

Mal wanted to hug her. She was following his lead.

"Still doesn't explain about the cells," Zoe said, seemingly relaxed at his back, but ready for anything.

Pius waved his hand airily. "It's a precaution. We … make sure they understand before we let them go."

"Father, I told you to rest -" A woman's voice, coming from the back of the room. She stepped inside, and Mal felt the blood rush from his face.

"_Ta ma dah_." He barely whispered it, but she turned to glare at him. Then she realised, recognised him.

"Mal?" She shook her head, then a grin split her face. She rushed to him, embracing him. "Mal!"

"Amy." His arms came up, holding her to him. Thinner than he remembered, her blonde hair was cut short, and the rough working clothes she wore disguised what used to be a voluptuous figure. Her face was youthful, though, unmarked by time. "Amy, as I live and breathe."

"Never thought to see you again," she said, pulling back and thumping him on the chest. "Where've you been?"

He rubbed where she'd hit him. "Around. Lots of different places. Guess I can't ask you the same question."

Her smile faltered. "No."

"How come … you were at MedAcad …"

"When the war started, I came home. To help my father." She glanced at Pius, then looked back at Mal. "I didn't think you … when you didn't come back to see your Ma, I figured maybe you'd died."

"Only on the inside, Amy." He saw Kaylee exchange a look with Zoe, and stepped away. "Well, I'd say it was good to see you again, if it was under different circumstances."

"I think it's good to see you, however it is."

"Quite the family reunion," Pius said, an odd note in his voice.

"So who won?" Amy asked, pulling her clothes straight.

Mal stiffened, then made himself relax. "You mean the war?"

"Yes."

"It's been … you don't … no, I guess you couldn't know." It hadn't occurred to him, but there was probably no way for them to find out.

"From the look on your face I'm figuring it wasn't the Independents."

"Nope. Alliance. We held out, long as we could, even had some good victories, but then there was Serenity Valley."

"Serenity …" Amy shook her head. "I don't know where that is."

"Hera. It was the end of things. The war finished there." Even to Mal his voice sounded bitter.

"The Alliance were too powerful?"

Mal shrugged. "Command decided not to carry on."

"I'd've thought you'd fight 'til the last man."

"We did," Zoe put in softly. "Hardly anyone walked out of Serenity Valley."

There was a silence, then Kaylee took a step forward.

"These processors," she said hesitantly. "You're saying one of 'em ain't working so well?"

"It keeps cutting out," Amy said. "No-one can figure out why."

"Want me to take a look?" She glanced around at the men in the doorway, their guns now pointed down to the ground. "I'd be glad to."

"If you would, we'd be grateful," Pius said.

"Could you?" Amy's face showed all the same exuberance that she had once exhibited over a silly bunch of flowers Mal had picked for her.

"Sure. Might need my tools, but -"

"We have tools. All sorts. We've had a lot of ships to pick over." She sounded almost apologetic.

"Then sure."

"Thank you," Pius added. "That would be most helpful. Amy, if you can show the young lady to our processing area -"

"We'll stick together," Zoe said quickly.

"That we will," Mal agreed. "All of us."

"Amy." Pius nodded.

"Yes, father." She smiled at them and extended one hand. "This way."

They didn't give them back their guns, though, Mal noticed. And Bates and Pius seemed very deep in conversation as they left the meeting room.

---

Another cave, this one bigger, echoing darkly off into the distance, but filled with machinery.

"That's it," Amy said. "We have three of them. One died on us about a year ago, and now this one is …" She patted the side of the large container. "If it goes too, there won't be enough food, even for those of us that are left."

"Food?" Mal stepped closer to her, trying not to see the thinness of her hair, the scarring visible on the skin above her collar.

Amy smiled at him, the same one-sided smile that got him into bed that first time. "You've probably noticed the wonderful decoration we have in here."

Mal looked around again, at the yellow algae glistening on the walls. "Kinda thought it was some of your efforts," he joked. "Remembering what your room looked like."

"No. Not guilty this time. But it makes good protein, when it's been processed, when we've removed the small level of toxin. Keeps us all alive, Mal."

"And who figured that out? You?"

"No." She shook her head. "Man name of Mickey Chen. Dead now."

"Well, let me take a look." Kaylee stepped forward, then put her hands into her pockets, taking out a couple of pounds of metalwork. "Cap, can you look after these for me?" She held them out.

"And why'd I want to do that?"

"'Cause I can't get under anything with them in here." She gestured. "Come on. Ain't like I've got all day."

"And I ain't your mule," Mal said, taking the stuff nevertheless and thrusting it into his own pockets. "Why you wanted all this …" his voice trailed away as he shook his head.

She grinned at him.

"The controls are round here …" Amy led the way around the other side of the bin.

"Sir, do we have a plan?" Zoe asked quietly.

"Not as such. Thinking on it, though."

"And I'm thinking they were all too ready to kill us before they figured who you were."

"That has occurred to me."

Zoe looked into his face. "We need to get out of here."

"I know that too. But we're still being watched, no matter they ain't in here with their guns pointing at us."

"You think Pius is just going to let us walk?"

"Honestly? Not a chance."

Amy came back around the container. "Your mechanic is elbow deep in things already." She laughed. "It's been a long time since we had someone knew their way around a torque wrench."

"What happened to the man that built these?"

"He died."

He put his hand on her arm. "Amy, how many of you are there?"

"Now? About a hundred."

He was shocked. "So how many survived the initial crashes?"

She disengaged his hand and went to sit down on a small rock, evidently placed there for just that purpose. "More than you might imagine. Some were hurt, and they either got better or they didn't. I did what I could, but the medical supplies were … and I couldn't get to everyone."

Mal thought back about the captain of Solitude, his crew. "What happened then?"

"What happens in any natural disaster?" She shrugged. "It was either lie down and die, or get up and start to organise."

"I'm figuring that was probably your father."

"Pretty much. He got the survivors together, started giving orders … been doing that ever since."

"Must've been grim."

"It was." She gazed up into this face. "You haven't asked."

"Asked what?"

"The question that's been at the front of your mind all along."

"Don't know what you're talking about, Amy."

"Yes you do. And no. She isn't here."

Mal felt his heart miss a beat. "I know."

"But you hoped. Maybe."

"A man hopes all sorts of things, even when he knows there ain't no chance. And I knew my Momma was dead."

"We did try. My father, the rest of the townsfolk who were leaving … we all tried. But she just wouldn't."

"Always was stubborn, my Ma."

"She was a wonderful woman."

"Yeah." He looked down at her for a moment longer, then turned to Zoe. "How's Kaylee getting on?"

"We may not see her for a week," his first mate admitted.

Mal smiled slightly. "That's my girl."

"Amy." Bates stood in the entrance to the cave. "Pius wants to see Reynolds."

Amy looked round. "Well, our young friend here isn't finished -"

"Alone."

"Not leaving them on their own," Mal said firmly.

"'S okay, Cap'n," Kaylee said, climbing out from under the main control console. "I think I figured out what it is." She touched a few buttons, pushed a slider all the way to the right, and a dull rumbling juddered through the cave, easing out into a smooth hum, joining that of the other processor. "Just a bad connection. The humidity down here ain't doing it no good," Kaylee explained. "Need to check it every morning, make sure it's dry, but it'll carry on working. Whoever put this together knew what they were doing." She watched the dials a moment. "Let it run for a while. If there's anything else it'll show up quickly enough."

"Thank you," Amy said, sounding honestly grateful.

"Weren't nothing." Kaylee smiled, blushing just a little.

"Amy." Bates was getting impatient.

"Yes. All right."

They followed the man out into the corridor, then Mal saw a half familiar shape through another opening.

"What's in here?" he asked, ducking his head inside. "_Tzao gao_." He stared.

Amy joined him. "Yes. Beautiful, isn't she?"

"Cap'n …" Kaylee breathed.

Mal stared up at a Firefly, sitting in the huge cave like a jewel in the dust. From where he stood he could just make out the nameplate, where someone had painted, somewhat haphazardly, REDEMPTION. She looked spaceworthy, unlike the others they'd seen up in the graveyard. "Does she fly?"

"No." She shook her head sadly. "We hoped … it was our last chance, but when our engineer died we had no way of completing the work." She sighed. "I think that was when a lot of people gave up the hope that we would ever leave. Everyone except my father."

Kaylee moved past them, her mouth open in wonder. "How much was left to be done?"

"I don't know," Amy admitted. "The one shuttle that's left actually works, but since there's nowhere we want to go that we can't get to on foot, we haven't bothered taking it anywhere. And we saved the fuel anyway. But the engine's in pieces, and no matter how good we are at jigsaws, we can never put it together again."

"All the King's horses …" Mal heard Zoe mutter behind him.

"How'd you get her in here? I'm guessing she didn't come in under her own power."

Amy laughed. "No. That took all of us. Sheer brute force." She pointed to a faint patch of light some distance away. "There's a tunnel, just about big enough, leads from the surface into here. Luckily it slopes, otherwise we'd never have managed it."

"Amy, Pius is waiting," Bates put in, clearly uncomfortable at keeping the man in charge waiting.

"Yes, you're right." She smiled again. "Come along. I'm sure he can answer any other questions you may have."

---

Back in the meeting room, Pius was sitting on his central chair of office. "Sit. Please. I have some refreshments for you." He smiled.

"Uh, thanks, but … not if it's that yellow stuff I saw growing on the walls." Mal waited until Kaylee and Zoe were seated before lowering himself onto a stool.

Pius laughed. "I can assure you, it's harmless."

"I'm sure it is, but we'll wait until we get back to our ship."

"Yes, your ship. It's out beyond the debris field." Pius glanced heavenward. "And yet you told my men that they had left you."

Mal feigned surprise. "Really? They back already? Must've done what they planned on quicker than we thought."

"I'm sure they did." His glance ranged over the two women. "But I did ask to speak to you in private."

"We're a set. Come as standard. No splitting us up."

Pius smiled again, but this time it didn't reach his eyes. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter that much. Not since you're all going to be staying with us."

"What?"

"Your mechanic here fixed our processor."

"Weren't really broke," Kaylee replied, but she might as well not have spoken.

"Your ship, Malcolm. You're going to help us."

"Look -" He tried to stand, but Bates was behind him, pushing him back down, another man at his side, holding a gun aimed at his head.

"You don't know what happened here, do you?" Pius asked. "How we came to be stranded."

"Alliance ambushed you." Mal sat still, but his rage was growing. "I heard … we all heard in the camp. An Alliance cruiser opened fire on you."

"Is that what they say? Huh." Pius picked up his cup and sipped.

"What the hell else could it have been?"

"Although in a way the Alliance are responsible for our situation. I had contacts, people who knew me, and they told me about what was about to happen. To us. To Shadow. How the Alliance were going to make an example of us." He looked at Mal. "Do you have any idea how many good Shadow boys went off to fight for the Independents, Malcolm?"

"No."

"Thousands. All with the fervour of righteousness in their hearts, that they were doing the proper thing, that God was on their side."

Mal had forgotten Pius used to be an occasional lay Preacher, but those words, the style, brought it all back to him. "They had no right to tell us what to do."

"Oh, I agree with you. But it meant we came under their scrutiny. Picked as a target." He put the cup back down. "We didn't all leave at once. We couldn't. There weren't enough ships for all at one time, but over about a month there was an exodus. There still wasn't enough room for everyone. Not by any means. That would have taken … but some were able to leave. We arranged to meet, to move out to one of the further Rim planets all together. This was our rendezvous. The name seemed so perfect … Amnesty."

"What happened" Zoe asked.

"It was an Independent ship found us. They thought we were carrying spies."

Mal's jaw dropped as he realised what the old man was saying. "No. No way that happened. They'd never fire on … not on civilian transports."

"They didn't believe us," Pius went on. "Demanded we hand them over, and any weapons they said we had. We told 'em, over and over, that we were refugees, coming from Shadow, trying to find a place to land. They opened fire."

Amy stood by her father. "We heard the screams. Begging us for help as the first of the ships went down. Men, women, children … all dying as we listened. Then it was our turn."

"Did you … were you the ones saw them open fire on you? Independents?"

"No. But I heard it from someone who -"

"Heard it from someone else." He shook his head. "So you don't _know_."

Suddenly Pius was in his face. "You've been out there. Seen that destruction that once was your home, your family. I _know_." Fury radiated off him like heat. "I _saw_ the death." He straightened up as much as he could. "And you, with your browncoat and your attitude, are going to help us now." He went to sit down. "The ships that have come here before, those that didn't get away … not one of them had an engineer worth anything. And not one of them big enough to take us all off this rock. But now, here you are. A Firefly, no less, and a mechanic who knows how to fix them. And she's going to."

"_Fei hua_," Kaylee put in, trying to stand but being pushed back into her chair by the man behind her.

"The rest of your crew will come and join us," Pius went on, ignoring her. "Hostages, if you like, against the time when she has repaired Redemption and we can all leave. Half in your ship, half in ours."

"Pius, this ain't the way to do things -"

"Can you fix her?" the man finally turned to Kaylee.

"I ain't gotten a look at her engine -"

"It's all there. Just needs putting together in the right order," Amy said.

"Then I can do that. But -"

"Good." Pius clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"No, it ain't." Mal stood up, shaking off the man who tried to get him back into his seat. "This ain't happening. You ain't kidnapping my mechanic, Pius. And she ain't gonna be getting that crate ready for you."

"Yes, she will. Otherwise she's going to see her beloved captain broken, her friends dying … all because she didn't do as we asked."

Mal stared at the older man. "What the hell happened to you?"

"This." Pius opened his arms, indicated his realm. "This happened. But if you're asking how I can do this, to you, to a man I knew a long time ago …" He half smiled. "I was never innocent, Malcolm. Only you, in your youth, didn't see that." He nodded.

Mal started to turn, but something thudded down onto his skull. He heard Kaylee cry out, then the ground rushed up to meet him, and the world turned black.


	7. Chapter 7

_Then …_

"Sir?"

"Captain?"

The voices seemed to be slightly annoyed with him, as if they'd been calling for some time, and he wondered why. It wasn't time to get up yet, surely. Reaching down for the covers to pull back over his head but finding nothing, he tried to sit up, and groaned.

"I think he's awake."

"Zoe?" He opened his eyes and looked up. A small area of light swam into focus, shining in the gloom. A grille, in a door, a few feet above him.

"Not dead then, sir."

"Not that I'm aware of." He wiped his face with his hands, his head pounding. "They hurt you?"

"No. Just made sure we couldn't do anything to help." Zoe sounded pretty disgusted with herself.

"Where are we?" He felt around the small room, just about big enough to lie flat without touching any of the walls.

"I'm guessing it's the cells they talked about."

"I realise that. I meant geographically." He leaned on the wall and pulled himself to his feet, shaking his head to try and clear it.

"Not sure, sir."

"Pretty close to where that Firefly is," Kaylee put in, her voice a little more muffled. "I was counting the turns, and I'd figure we're on the same level at least."

"Could be our way out," Mal said, testing the door. "There's an exit to the outside."

"I hate to have to point this out, sir, but we're locked in."

"I'm working on that."

"You want to tell me about Amy?" his first mate continued, her tone dry, even through several layers of steel and rock.

"Not … particularly."

"Or should this be a conversation you have with Freya?"

"She knows I wasn't celibate. Didn't spend my time taking cold showers and waiting for the right woman to come along."

"No, sir. But you do seem to have had something of a taste for the _wrong_ woman. Maddy, Amy … even Saffron might come under that particular heading -"

"Zoe, if you ain't got something useful to say, don't say it."

"Only you two seemed quite close."

"Can you shut up?" Mal asked, glaring at the door then realised the pointlessness of that. "I'm trying to get us out of here."

"And you think we haven't been doing exactly the same?"

"Cap'n, there ain't no way I can open these doors from inside," Kaylee said, her voice at once apologetic and scared. "Can't get to the lock plate, so I can't pick it, and everything else is pretty solid."

"This one's the same," Zoe agreed.

Mal raised an eyebrow as he felt the smooth metal of his door, then catching his fingertips on something. "Well, looks to me like they've done a repair on mine. Maybe I can … _qingwa cao de liumang_!"

"Sir?"

He sucked the blood from his skin. "Nothing. Just some sharp edges. If I can find something to wedge underneath -"

"Cap, you still got that stuff I gave you?" Kaylee called.

"What's that got to -"

"There might be something you can use."

Mal felt his pockets, felt the weight of the entirely useless bits and pieces that might just now save their lives. "Kaylee, you're a genius."

"Does that get me the extra ten percent?"

"Don't push it." Pulling one of the pieces of metal out, he lifted it into the light. There, shaped like a bird, was the scrap Kaylee had been so delighted with. He smiled and pushed it under the repair. Levering it with all his weight, he felt it give, letting him slide it further. Again he leaned on it, and was highly gratified when it popped off, clattering to the rock floor.

"Sir?" Zoe called.

"Getting there," he said. Again investigating the contents of his pocket, he came up with something round that was attached to a wire, which he inserted into the mechanism he'd uncovered. "How the hell does Frey do this?" he muttered, the thin wire bending as he fiddled, his fingers getting slippery with sudden sweat. Then suddenly there was a click and the lock disengaged. Pushing the door gently, checking to see if there were guards anywhere in sight, he hurried over towards the other cells. "Zoe?"

She looked out at him, an expression almost of pride on her face. "Well done, sir."

He nodded and stared down at the locking mechanism on her door. "_Cao_."

"Sir?"

"It's electronic. I can't pick it." He looked into her eyes. "Let me see if I can find something to break it with." He glanced around, but the room was bare of anything usable.

"Cap'n, can you do mine? Maybe I can open Zoe's," Kaylee suggested.

He hurried over to hers, glad to see it was a manual lock. Sliding the wire inside, he attempted to do the same as before, but it was only a moment later that he felt the wire break off. He peered down, but couldn't tell what had happened. Pushing the remaining wire into the lock, he found he couldn't get it anywhere near the tumblers. He looked up, saw her frightened face pale through the grille. "Kaylee …"

"I understand," she said, trying to smile for him. "You need to find something else to use."

He nodded.

"There's someone coming," Zoe suddenly whispered.

Mal grabbed the grille. Maybe that was weaker. If he could get that out, maybe Kaylee could scramble loose, then help Zoe …

"There's no time," his first mate called urgently.

"I can't …" Mal strained all his muscles, but nothing was happening.

"You have to go, sir. Get to Serenity."

"Not leaving you here."

"You have to. Mal, you have to, so you can come back for us."

He stepped back and stared through the grille at her dark face, her eyes insistent. "Zoe -"

"Go. Go now."

"She's right," Kaylee added. "Hurry."

He nodded, just once, and ran out of the cave, hearing boots on the rock floor just as he turned a corner out of sight.

Gorramit, this place was like a maze. He could run around down here like a rat for the rest of his natural, if he didn't … wait. That looked familiar. Ducking through an opening he realised Kaylee had been right. The Firefly was sitting in the cavern, her bow pointing towards the patch of light. He smiled grimly and started forwards, but shouts behind him indicated they'd noticed his absence. Gorramit, if he tried to climb out they'd be able to pick him off at their leisure, soon as they came in …

His eyes strayed to the Firefly, and the shuttle above her starboard thruster. Well, beggars can't be choosers, as his Ma used to say. Mind, she also used to say to look before you leaped, but he'd always kinda figured that was more metaphorical anyway, since he'd spent more'n half his life leaping into the unknown.

And this was going to be just another example of it.

Climbing up a ladder conveniently placed to work on the extender, he was able to pull himself onto the thruster itself, and it was the work of only a moment to activate the escape hatch and let himself into the shuttle. The air inside was stale, and tasted of metal and dust, but he ignored the scratching it set up in his throat as he slid into the pilot's seat.

Praying that the start-up sequence was going to be the same as on his own ship, he began flicking switches. Amy had said the shuttle was flyable, that it had fuel … now was the time to find out.

Nothing seemed to happen for a long moment, then the small craft shuddered as the engine caught, and lights began to flash on the console.

"Yes!" he said in triumph.

Except that triumph was swiftly curtailed as he caught sight of figures pouring into the cave. Armed figures.

Hitting the emergency release, the docking clamps blew and the shuttle lifted into the air, riding on her jets as he manoeuvred her away from the Firefly. Then something bounced off the window. Dammit, they were firing at him, at their own _yuh bun duh_ shuttle! No time to lose, then. Pulling back on the yoke he tilted the small craft up towards the daylight, and engaged full thrusters. The shuttle responded, and he didn't care if the burn had managed to catch anyone below.

In less than a minute, from the time he'd fired the engines, he was flying out of the cave mouth, above the yellow earth. He allowed a smile to curve his lips, but this failed as he attempted to steer the shuttle around to head for his own ship. She responded, but very sluggishly, and every second was taking him further away.

Battling with his full strength, the tendons raised and tight in his neck, he fought to turn her, then had to pull up hard to avoid crashing into the landscape. Suddenly the controls went soft in his grip as an explosion juddered through the small craft, and she began to spin wildly out of control, heading back towards the all too solid ground …

---

_That was then, this is now …_

"I felt you fall," River said, holding his hand. "We came for you. Found you broken."

Mal opened his eyes and looked into the infirmary ceiling. "Yeah." He remembered someone turning him over, sliding him onto a stretcher, a moist rag at his lips.

"I'm sorry," she added softly.

"What for?"

"For knowing it wasn't the Alliance."

He turned his head enough so that he could look into her dark eyes. "Ain't your fault, albatross."

"Mal?" Simon was at his side, checking his vitals. "Do you remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." He nodded slowly. "She made me leave. Told me to go, so I could rescue them later on." He sat up, even as the young doctor pushed down on his shoulders.

"Mal, you have to rest. You've got more cracked ribs, let alone that concussion -"

"No. You give me something. Whatever it takes to keep me going until this is over." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, aware of aches and pains announcing themselves all over his body, as well as the headache that was pounding back inside his skull. "We've got a rescue to plan."

---

"You think he got out okay?" Kaylee asked, leaning her head on the cool metal of the door.

"They haven't brought him back."

"That don't mean -"

"Yes it does. We have to believe, Kaylee."

"Yeah. Believe." She wiped angrily at the tear that forced its way from her eye. "He's real good at getting away."

"That he is. I remember a time during the war, on a moon called Praxis, he got our whole platoon out from under the noses of an Alliance battalion. No-one got a scratch."

Kaylee had to smile. "That's my captain."

"He's coming back for us. You know that. With his last breath he'll be planning and plotting -"

"Well, his last breath didn't do you much good," Bates said, appearing in the grille to glare in at her. "Stupid fool tried to make it out in our shuttle. It crashed. Exploded. Your precious captain's in a few thousand little bits right now. Just a smear on the landscape."

Zoe heard Kaylee gasp. "I don't believe you."

Bates shrugged. "Fine. It doesn't matter one way or the other." He unlocked the door, letting it open by its own weight as he aimed his rifle at Zoe. "Time for work."

"No."

"You don't got a choice. Move." The look on his face was plain enough. He was itching to fire.

Zoe glanced over his shoulder at the men behind. Even if she took Bates down, which she knew she could, they would still fire, and an incapacitating bullet wound was something she wasn't keen on dealing with at the moment. "Fine." She stepped out of the cell.

"Turn around."

She did as she was told, and was unsurprised to feel restraints being snapped around her wrists. "Afraid I might try and run?"

"I personally don't care. But your little mechanic is going to work, and you're the insurance." He breathed in her ear, and she knew she could just step back, kick him in the knee, take him down … "Now, far as I'm concerned, long as you're alive she'll work. But you don't exactly have to be in perfect health."

She turned around, her dark eyes gazing into his washed-out green. "How do you know she's going to do it right?"

"'Cause I'll make sure you're both on board for the maiden flight." He grinned, then wiped at the sore on his forehead.

"You know, you should really get someone to look at that."

"Get the girl," he ordered over his shoulder. "Time to get to work."

---

"Mal, that's crazy." Simon was flat-toned, stating nothing more than the obvious.

"Best I can come up with."

"But we need something sneaky. And … and clever," Hank put in, his anxiety coming back full force.

"Yeah, well, you think of something else, then, 'cause I'm all out of sneak."

"How about something not actually suicidal, then?" the young doctor suggested.

"I'm not actually figuring on getting that far." Mal looked down at the grenades on the table, then at River, sitting with one in her hands. "Can you do it?"

She nodded, her hair hiding her face. "It won't be hard. Jayne showed me how."

"Really?"

"We talk."

Mal pushed the disturbing image of his mercenary and this waif of a girl discussing methods of killing people out of his mind. "But it's doable."

"Two hours," she said, picking up the grenades and standing up.

"Two hours?" Simon shook his head. "We're starting to cut this very fine."

"You want this done fast, or you want this done right?" River countered.

"I don't particularly want this done at all. It's just … those inoculations -"

"Then you'd best be getting your own supplies together, doctor," Mal said firmly, then closed his eyes as a wave of nausea washed over him. He swallowed thickly.

"Maybe one of us should do this," Hank suggested diffidently. "You ain't exactly in the best of health."

"They won't let you get within fifteen feet." Mal managed to smile as he looked at his pilot. "They'd shoot you without a thought. But thanks for offering."

"I wasn't exactly meaning me …"

The smile got warmer. "We got work to do, and precious little time to get it done." He looked at River. "Can anyone help?"

"Simon, with his stitching. And Hank with some of the parts. Otherwise, one pair of hands means less mistakes."

"Can we make it no mistakes?" Mal almost pleaded.

She wafted out of the room. "I'll try."

---

"Do you think it's true?" Kaylee asked quietly as they were bundled through the tunnels towards the Firefly cave. "About the Cap?" Tears had made little tracks through the dirt on her face.

"It's possible," Zoe had to admit, hearing the young woman take a sharp breath. "But I wouldn't count Mal out, though. You know that old saying, about a cat having nine lives?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I always had a notion our captain was more than partly feline. Mostly the way he keeps marking his territory."

Kaylee stifled a small laugh. "Thought that was dogs."

"Have to say, I've yet to see him cock a leg on a tree, but it kinda wouldn't surprise me."

"And the others? Simon, River … Bethany." The tremble was back in her voice.

Zoe felt a jolt to her heart at the thought of her own little family back on Serenity. "They ain't here, Kaylee. They've got away, I'm sure of that." She stopped, not caring about the orders to get moving. "They're safe, one way or the other."

Bates jammed his rifle into her side, ostentatiously flicking off the safety. "Get going."

"But the regulator … I lost it," Kaylee admitted as they continued along the corridor, fresh tears falling. "Some place, I don't know where."

They stepped into the cavern and looked up at the Firefly in front of them.

"Then we find another." Zoe took a deep breath. "We ain't done yet, Kaylee."

---

"Uncle Mal?" Bethany stood in the doorway to the common area, Fiddler in her arms.

"Hey, there, short stub." He put the rifle he'd been loading down on the crate. "Shouldn't you be looking after Hope and Ben?"

"They're asleep."

"Then maybe you should be too."

"What if you don't come back?" Her wide brown eyes searched his face.

He crossed the bay and went down onto his heels in front of her, inwardly cursing the pull of cracked ribs. "Bethie, we're locking the ship up. No-one's gonna be able to get in, not less it's us come back. And we _are_ gonna be coming, and bringing your Momma and Auntie Zoe with us. _Dong mah_?"

"What if you don't?"

He sat down on the floor and pulled her into his lap to sit on his thigh, for the first time immensely glad that Freya and his own son were safe on Lazarus, and wishing this little girl were with them. "Then you wait. Will you … will you know if anything happens to us?"

"I … I think so. It's hard … it's like …" She couldn't think of the right words.

"Cotton candy?" he suggested, and she nodded.

"But I think I'd know."

"Then if that happens, and it's a helluva big _if_, 'cause I'm planning on getting back to your Auntie Frey in time to see my daughter born, but if that happens, then you go to the people out there."

"But they'd -"

"No. They'll look after you, much as they can. Maybe even be able to fix this old crate of mine and get you somewhere more civilised."

"Don't want to go anywhere without you," she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder.

He smiled. "Same here, Bethie. But we have to get your Momma back. And we will. I promise."

"You keep your promises," the little girl said.

"I surely try."

She looked into his blue eyes and nodded slowly. "I believe you."

His heart in his throat, he lifted her to her feet, avoiding a lick from Fiddler. "Then you'd better be getting back to your job, young lady," he said. "Those babies'll be wanting feeding pretty soon."

Bethany gazed at him a moment longer, then ran back through the common area, passing her father on the way as he carried his backpack into the cargo bay.

"Bethie?" he called.

"Working," she shouted back, slamming the door to the nursery behind her.

Mal climbed laboriously to his feet as the young doctor glared at him and said, "Working?"

"Simon, if my daughter is half as amazing as yours, I'm gonna be so proud." He pointed towards the pack. "Got everything you need?"

Feeling as if he was being side-tracked a little, Simon nodded. "I think so. Boosters, emergency packs, more of the injections for you …" He looked into the captain's face. "You know these are only temporary, don't you? I can't keep giving them to you, not indefinitely."

"Won't have to. Soon as this is done, I'll be following your orders and staying put."

"That'll make a change."

Mal ignored the sarcasm. "Doc, you got anything for them? The people down there, those sores …"

"Radiation sickness."

"I figured that. Only some've healed."

Simon shrugged. "Perhaps being in the caves had some effect. Or another environmental factor …"

"Can you help them?"

Simon was surprised. Even though they had kidnapped the captain and his crew, still he wanted to know if anything could be done for them. He was impressed by Mal's humanity. "I don't know."

"Might give us a bargaining chip."

Well, maybe not that impressed.

River stepped out of the shuttle onto the catwalk above them. She held something in her hands. "it's done," she said.

Hank joined her. "Ship's locked up tight. Got the beacon ready, but not sure what good it'll do."

"Just a failsafe," Mal said, looking around at his skeleton crew. "Okay, people. Got us a rescue to perform."


	8. Chapter 8

Mal strode through the crashed and wrecked derelicts, and wondered idly if Simon was right. Maybe he _was_ insane. This was, after all, one of the more crazy things he'd ever come up with. And absolutely no guarantee that it was even likely to work.

"Frey, I cock this up, you'd better forgive me," he said to no-one in particular. "'Cause I'll be haunting you otherwise."

_Mal_, he seemed to hear her voice on the breeze, but he wasn't sure if she was berating him or encouraging him. From his point of view, though, he conjured he'd take the latter.

"I love you," he whispered, and continued through the permanent shadows.

---

River looked around, the breeze making her hair fly behind her. She touched Simon on the arm. "I'll meet you there."

"What?" He reached for her but she had already danced away. "River!"

"Something I have to do," she said, her voice carrying back as she disappeared into the graveyard.

Simon went to follow, but Hank stopped him. "No time for this, doc," the pilot said.

"But that's my sister."

"And Mal's counting on us to help him get your wife back. And Zoe." His grey eyes were filled with emotion, but there was a steely look on his face that was new. "We have to hurry."

Simon stared at him, but nodded. "She can look after herself," he admitted.

"Yes, she can," Hank agreed. "You know, I feel sorry for anyone she might meet out here."

"I'm not sure I do."

---

There it was, the Lonsdale, sitting pretty much unchanged in the few hours since he'd seen it last. He half-smiled. He wasn't quite sure what he expected - a few more holes, maybe. Still, no time to ponder things like that. He strode up to the metal wall and knocked on it, the same sequence he'd seen Bates use.

The hatch slid to one side.

Probably with more force than was strictly necessary, Mal batted the gun away and punched the guard hard on the nose. Blood spurted, and he fell back, clutching his face.

"Roseby," Mal said, standing over him. "You take me to Pius or I'll break your jaw to go along with your nose."

Roseby looked up in amazement, and a fair amount of pain.

---

River gazed at the Firefly, at the name Solitude barely visible anymore, and felt a tug of something. For a split second she stopped to analyse it, understanding it was almost fifty percent pity, with at least twenty percent sorrow. The one percent of trepidation she ignored as she hurried inside and up the groaning stairs.

---

Roseby led the way through the tunnels, picking up other men en route, following at a distance but not trying to stop them. Mal was surprised when they turned off, not heading for the meeting area, but instead ducked under the opening to the Firefly cavern. He allowed his lips to lift. Even better.

"Pius," Roseby called, his voice rather muffled due to the handkerchief he still held to his nose.

"What?" The leader turned from where he was watching someone, and his jaw dropped. "Reynolds?"

Mal smiled coldly. "Not Malcolm any more?"

"I thought … you were dead."

"Not quite." He quickly scanned the cave, noting Zoe sitting rather too upright on a chair, and knew no-one else would be able to see the welcome on her dark, impassive features.

"Cap'n!" Kaylee, on the other hand, couldn't stop her joy at seeing him, and stepped forward, but Bates stopped her.

"You walk back in here, unarmed …" Pius couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice. "What did you expect to gain?"

"My crew."

"Malcolm, I never took you for an idiot."

"Yeah, well, you've kinda taken away all my other options." He glanced at Zoe, her hands cuffed behind her back to the chair. Kaylee was standing with a wrench in her hands as if she was just about ready to start swinging it. "Soon have you home again," he added, hoping she wouldn't have to.

"I doubt that. I sincerely doubt that." Pius shook his head. "Bates, take Captain Reynolds -"

"Nowhere," Mal interrupted, undoing the front of his coat. "Not unless you intend ending up smeared all over the walls."

"_Wu de tyen ah_," Bates breathed, backing away.

"What is it?" Pius demanded, then took a better look. "_Wang ba dahn_."

"Yeah, it does take a bit of getting used to." Mal glanced down at the grenades strapped to his chest. "It's a bomb. Pretty crude, but effective. Saw of lot of this kinda thing in the war. Admittedly, the bodies they were on were mostly dead, but it works just as well on the living. Mighty powerful, too. And difficult to defuse. I'm kind of a walking booby trap."

"You won't just kill yourself. You'll kill them too," Pius pointed out, glancing at Kaylee and Zoe. Sweat had sprung out on his scarred forehead.

"Well, yes. That's true. But least if that happens, they go out with me. And you don't get the benefit. Hell, it might bring the roof down, take you all out. Even blow up Redemption here. But that'd be a bonus. I'm thinking just you, me and mine."

"We could just take you back out into the ships, let you explode all you want out there."

"Yeah, well, it ain't exactly a perfect plan, but I ain't feeling up to being too devious. Best I could come up with, given the short notice. But I should prob'ly point out I got my finger on the dead man's switch. Right now." He glanced around at the other men. "So be careful how you handle me."

Pius took a step back. "That would be murder."

"Technically, in my case, suicide. Kaylee and Zoe'd be merciful. You … I kinda figure that'd be justice." His voice had changed tone, one his crew recognised. Despite the banter, he was deadly serious.

"You're insane."

Serenity's captain shrugged. Very carefully. "Well, I got a knock to the head."

"Mal?" Amy stepped into the cavern, pushing through the men.

"Amy, you'd better leave. This ain't to do with you." His face softened a little.

"Yes it is." She walked up to him, careful not to touch. "This is my father you're threatening."

"And that's my crew. Both of 'em with babies back on board my ship. You think I'm gonna just walk out of here without them?"

"Babies?" Amy whispered, going pale.

"You're not walking anywhere," Pius stated.

"Come on, Pius," Mal said, sounding as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders rather than a dozen grenades. "This is pointless. You know I'm gonna do this if I don't get my way."

"Just like a damn Browncoat," the older man spat. "Betraying his family."

Mal had to consciously relax, not take offence. "You ain't my family, Pius. They are. And I'll do anything to protect them."

"Including kill them?"

"If needs be."

"We could still kill you. Take our chances."

"Could," Mal agreed. "But even if this thing didn't blow she'd take you all out anyway."

Pius's head lifted in confusion. "She?"

"She's aiming at you right now." Mal half-smiled as he looked up to the Firefly behind the other man. "You able to shoot him without hitting me?"

Pius was about to sneer when he heard a young voice.

"I think I can manage that, captain."

"Good. 'Cause my finger's getting tired."

Pius turned slowly. High up, on top of the extender, stood a young woman, dark haired, dressed in sturdy clothes that seemed to hang on her slight frame. She was aiming what could only be a gun at his chest, dead centre, but unlike any he'd seen before.

"Callahan fullbore autolock, customised trigger, double cartridge thorough-gauge," she said softly. "Her name's Vera."

Pius swallowed.

"Well, now, seems I've got your attention." Mal eased the safety back onto the bomb trigger, and began to breathe again. "Oh, and there's two more, if you thought you'd like to try your luck and take her on. And they're worse. Much worse."

Simon and Hank stepped into the light, one either side, each aiming rifles.

_Define worse_, River dripped into Mal's mind.

_Later_, he thought back.

"I can still order your death," Pius said, his voice hoarse now.

"You could. But what would be the point? Let me take my crew and get out of here. You won't be any the worse off than before."

"No," Pius spat. "After what your Independents did to us, you think I'm going to let you walk." He shook his head. "Blow yourselves up. Do it. I'd like to see you die before I do."

They glared at each other, and Mal began to wonder who was likely to blink first.

"It wasn't the Independents who fired on you." River's voice, breaking into the silence, twisting the tension into even tighter knots.

"How can you know that?" Pius demanded, turning to stare up at her. "You weren't even there. _Ni bu dong_, you were hardly _born_!"

In answer she took a memory disk from the pouch at her belt, very like the one that had broadcast the news about Miranda.

"Where'd you get that, albatross?" Mal asked softly.

"The Firefly. Solitude. Her captain was still guarding it." She looked at him, her dark eyes expressionless, then tilted her head, examining the device carefully. "It called to me."

"What's she saying?" Pius crossed his arms. "You're going to listen to a child?"

"Not a child," River pointed out, going down onto her heels and taking out a portable reader from the sack at her feet. "I have never been a child. And you will see the truth."

She placed the disk in the machine, and there was a flashing of light before the 3D image appeared, hanging in the air above them. Ships suspended in the black, crammed together, apparently viewed from another a little distance off. A planet, yellow and bright, glowed in the bottom left quadrant.

"Too close," Hank murmured to no-one. "Too ruttin' close."

"_This is the Independent vessel Vasquez," _came a voice. _"Stand your engines down and prepare to be boarded."_ A Tyrell, old but spaceworthy, appeared in the haze, closing on the recording ship.

Pius looked at the assembled survivors in triumph. "See? What did I tell you?"

"Listen," River whispered.

"_This is Captain Reynolds of the Firefly Solitude."_ Mal couldn't help but jerk, and was really glad the grenades didn't blow. _"We are refugees from Shadow. Please be aware we are carrying women and children."_

"_We have reports that you are harbouring spies."_

There was a laugh, rolling around the cavern. _"From Shadow? Well, you're welcome to come on board and check, only I wouldn't be suggesting that around these folks. They've all had to give up their homes because of the Alliance, so there ain't a one of 'em who'd even consider pissing on a Fed if he was on fire."_

There was a pause.

"_Really."_

"_Really. Look, I may've moved away from that planet a while back, but I know these people. They're good stock. And all they want to do is to make a life for themselves someplace safe. Someplace where the Alliance ain't gonna get. Just a little bit further."_

"This is ridiculous," Pius said, moving forward to try and stop the transmission. "This doesn't prove they didn't fire on us."

"Wait." Amy's voice was uncertain. "What harm will it do to see the rest?"

"I don't -"

"Let it play."

"… _still have to board you to check. But we can be quick. Do you have any idea where you're actually headed?"_

"_Not really. Any place that'll take us, I guess."_

"_We might be able to help. There are a few Rim worlds who could take you."_

They could almost hear the smile in Captain Reynolds' voice. _"That'd be mighty fine of you."_

"_Anything to help good Independents."_

"_If you want to lock onto us, you might as well start -"_

"_This is the Alliance battlecruiser Magister." _A new voice, hard and sharp._ "You are ordered to stand down. You are now under our jurisdiction and will be considered prisoners of war."_

A large vessel hove into view, facing the fleet, at once menacing and overpowering.

Captain Reynolds' again. _"We're carrying nothing but refugees,"_ he said, a firmness registering that hadn't been there before. _"We're no fighters."_

"_That will be determined at a formal hearing. However, all on board the Vasquez are now bound."_

There was a cacophony of other voices, all the ships talking over each other until the Alliance officer cut across them.

"_Enough! If you persist in refusing to obey my orders, you will be fired upon."_

Mal glanced at Pius. He was staring at the images.

Another voice, in the background. _"Sir, I think the Vasquez might be powering up its weapons!"_

"_We're not! Our engine is just recycling -"_

Confusion, more voices, and one shouting,_ "Shall we fire, sir?"_

There was no response, no time for a reply as a beam of white light flashed from the Magister and hit the engine of the smaller Independent vessel, half of its particles passing by to apparently dissipate in the moon's atmosphere.

Nothing seemed to happen for a long time, perhaps five seconds, then the Vasquez began to turn, apparently trying to get away, except that she was heading for the planet. They watched in stunned silence as she hit the atmo, her angle all wrong, and something blew. Her hull rippling, she tore apart, explosions bursting from a dozen points before she disappeared.

The Magister followed. Her own engines were at full power, and the air was filled with the sounds of voices, shouting, screaming orders, trying to get away from whatever had them in its grip. But it was too strong, and the Alliance vessel began to break up.

"_Help us!" someone screamed over the sounds of panic. "For God's sake, help us!"_

She blew in the upper atmosphere, raining debris like a meteorite shower.

The smaller ships followed, as if in a vortex, spiralling down towards the yellow ground. Men, women and children, their voices high, begging for rescue, calling for parents, Buddha, anyone to save them. But there was nothing anyone could do.

The stars began to swirl crazily as the Firefly was caught, and Mal could imagine Captain Reynolds on his bridge, fighting for control, seeing the unforgiving earth coming up to meet him. People were still screaming …

"River," he said softly, and she switched the recording off. Kaylee sobbed.

"I don't understand," Pius said, his body beginning to tremble. "This must be false. Lies. I don't see how …"

"This moon has a berybdenum core," River explained softly. "When the EMP pulse hit it, it caused an intense magnetic field to be generated, catching all the ships in range and pulling them down." She shook her head slightly. "I can _feel_ the remnants of it."

"That's why it was never reported," Simon said quietly. "If it had been the Independents firing on their own people, the Alliance would have used it as propaganda. Handed to them on a silver platter. But this, causing so many innocent deaths …"

"Someone must have got away," Hank murmured. "For the rumours to get out."

"A couple of small ships. They were late, hadn't managed to join up with the main body of the armada, and were out of range. They saw, but didn't understand." River's voice was filled with sadness.

"No." Pius collapsed onto the dirt floor, and Simon, his professional doctor persona never far below the surface, hurried forward. Amy was down at her father's side immediately, but moved enough to make way for him, already pulling the portable scanner from his pack.

"I don't …" The old man was trying to talk, trying to bring the words past the lump in his throat. "I always thought … only heard the end … always believed …"

Mal stood over him, trying to control his own heart rate, pounding from witnessing the tragic events from so many years past.

"Father?" Amy loosened the collar of his shirt, revealing more sores on his pale chest.

"Pius?" Bates clutched his rifle, waiting for an order, not knowing, in this moment, what to do.


	9. Chapter 9

"What do we do, Pius?" Bates demanded, his finger on the trigger, ready to take them all on if necessary.

"Put it down," Amy said, still staring at her father.

"I didn't ask you –"

"Put it down!" She turned on him, her eyes flashing fire. "There's been enough death, don't you think?"

Bates stared at her, then lowered his gun.

"You're dying," Simon said gently to the man on the ground, leaning back, the scanner still in his hand. "I can ease your passing, but … I can't stop it."

"Dying?" Mal looked at him sharply.

"The radiation. Honestly, I'm surprised any of them are still alive, but –"

"We're not," Amy said. "There used to be more of us, but we've been losing them. A lot, lately. As much as we've used the materials available to shield us, to create our homes, we knew … _I_ knew."

"You're a doctor?"

"I was going to be. Once." She dipped her cropped head.

"Knew? Knew what?" Pius demanded, but his power had gone, and his voice cracked.

"Father, we have so little time. We're all getting worse, and he's right. There's nothing can be done to stop it."

Pius struggled to sit up. "But our plans … she was going to fix Redemption, take us back out, find somewhere we could –"

"No." She put her hand on his. "This has been our home for so long, and it will always be."

He stared at her. "You knew? And you didn't tell us? Just let us carry on –"

"It gave you hope." She reached down and touched his face, running her thumb over the radiation scars on his cheek, her own eyes way too bright. "I didn't want to lose you, father. Not if I could delay it as long as possible." A tear slid down her face. "It gave you hope."

"Amy …"

"There's nowhere for us to go." She gathered him into her arms, holding him as he absorbed the information.

River slid from the thruster, Mal catching her before she could fall, jarring his ribs so he winced. She handed him the memory disk.

He gazed at it, whispering, "It _called_ to you?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I wasn't listening before." She touched his chest lightly. "And you shouldn't be catching anyone. Not wearing grenades."

He paled a little. "Ah. No. Right."

Bates took a step closer. "What do we do, Pius? What do we do?"

Amy looked into her father's face, saw the collapse there, and stood up. "We put away our guns. We let them go."

"But the engine … the Firefly …"

"Release them."

"Look, I need to hear it from Pius." Bates shook his head. "I can't see that we're going to –"

"Do what she says," the old man managed to say. "Whatever she says."

Bates glared, then turned to one of the other men who undid Zoe's cuffs. She stood up, massaging her wrists, and smiled slightly at Hank, who couldn't have looked more relieved it he'd tried.

---

Amy escorted them to the surface, out of the Lonsdale and into the yellow light.

"I can bring supplies. Arrange, maybe, someone to come by when we can't …" Mal couldn't leave it, not like this, even as he was strapping his gunbelt back on.

"That would be good," Amy agreed. "But you'd better not. When we're gone, my father, me, the others might … it would be dangerous. Even for you. For Malcolm Reynolds." She smiled sadly. "We make do. The algae makes acceptable protein, we have water, and occasionally we hunt."

"Hunt what?"

"Some of the ships contained breeding stock. Some must have survived, escaped into the daylight. Somehow they've survived. Multiplied." She shrugged. "They live in the cusp. And we scavenge too," she admitted. "There are still ration packs. When times are bad."

"Don't," Simon advised quickly. "They're contaminated. Stick to the protein. You'll probably live longer."

"Why?"

He had no answer.

"And visiting ships?" Hank asked. "The stories of ghosts?"

"Not many come here. But those that do …" Amy laughed softly. "Well, we demand payment for anything they take."

"I'm figuring you don't actually ask." Mal looked pointedly at her.

"Not so much."

"And the tales of ships that never returned?" Hank wanted to know.

"Pirates. Hunters." Amy didn't look sorry, and in that moment the crew of Serenity knew there was more than a little madness in each of the survivors. "If they didn't want to give us what we wanted …"

"We'd best be getting back," Mal put in, not wanting to get into any kind of philosophical argument.

"Yes, you should." Amy raised herself onto her toes and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you survived," she whispered.

"Me too." He smiled for her.

"Tell your wife she's a lucky woman."

"Wife? I didn't tell you I was -"

She lifted his left hand, touching the ring on his third finger. "You wear it like a shield, Malcolm Reynolds."

"Maybe I do." He looked at her for a few moments. "See you around, Amy."

"I doubt it."

He nodded, then turned, hearing the hatch slide shut behind him. He looked at his crew and said, "Let's head home."

"About time," Hank muttered, falling into step beside his Zoe, glad just to feel her presence. They headed off in front, Simon and River slightly behind.

Kaylee walked with Mal.

"Could you have?" he asked as they headed through the graveyard. "Fixed that ship?"

Kaylee spoke quietly, as aware as him that, even though they couldn't see them, they were more than likely not alone. "No. Oh, the engine, yeah. But I took a look at the fuel cells, Cap'n. Ain't no way …" She bit her lip. "They should've drained 'em. Have to drain a Firefly's cells if'n she's gonna be sitting a while, otherwise …" She shook her head. "Redemption'd never've flown again."

"Yet you made 'em believe it was likely."

"Had to, Cap'n. Had to give you time to come get us. Otherwise we'd've been dead too."

He put his arm around her. "That's my girl." Something occurred to him. "But what about that regulator?"

She grinned, pulling something from one of her pockets. "Took it out of their Firefly. She ain't got no use for it, and it looks even better than the Solitude one."

He squeezed. "Genius. Have to keep saying it."

"So, about that extra ten percent …"

He slapped her rump and she punched him lightly on the shoulder, then ran to catch Simon up, sliding under his arm.

"Captain."

Zoe had fallen back, and now he looked into her dark, calm eyes. "You okay?" he asked, the first chance he'd had to ask.

"Shiny." She glanced at Kaylee and the young doctor, walking ahead, and at Hank and River in the front, arguing about something, even as the young psychic's eyes were never still.

"What?" Mal asked, knowing her, and that look, all too well.

"There's a gap."

"Gap?"

"In their story. Between the crash and the first attempts at algae farming, salvaging … there's a gap. They should all, by rights, have died of starvation."

Mal didn't answer for a moment, just trudged through the graveyard. Finally he spoke. "I know it, Zoe," he said softly.

"Then you know what they must have –"

"They had to survive. It's in all of us. The need to survive."

"But to eat –"

"Ain't saying we'd have done it, but in this situation, knowing no help was coming – ever … who knows."

"We didn't. Not in Serenity Valley."

"But we figured we were gonna get saved. Might've been dead before that happened, but someone was coming. That at least they knew we were there." He half-smiled. "But given a few more days …" His voice trailed off.

"And the ships that came calling here? The ones didn't make it back to the black?"

"I've a notion you're thinking the same as I am, Zo."

Her face was stoic, but there was such an undercurrent of emotion it almost shouted. "Mal …"

"Does Kaylee know?"

"No."

"Don't tell her. Better to not realise what might've happened."

"But why didn't they …" She realised. "You."

Mal nodded. "Me. If I'd not been from Shadow, been family, I reckon it's possible we might've made a tasty main course."

"That's –"

"Maybe it ain't just the Pax makes a Reaver. Maybe we can do that our own selves."

They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"We could be wrong, sir. Maybe they just dumped the bodies in the wrecks." Somehow she needed to believe it.

"You're prob'ly right."

Two more minutes of walking before she spoke again, looking around at the death of the armada.

"It wasn't the Independents."

"No." He glanced at her, the reflected light giving her dark skin a sickly shine. "But it might have been."

"Sir –"

"Wars do things to people. Even those not at the front line. The captain of Vasquez was an honourable man, but there was no guarantee he was going to be. He could've shot first, asked questions pretty much never. No-one would've known." He sighed heavily. "I know there were cases, other things I've only heard rumours about, that were probably true. This time we were just lucky there was proof otherwise."

"And Captain Reynolds?"

"You mean Solitude?" When she nodded, he smiled a little. "I never met him, but my father had another brother. A lot older than him or Uncle Zach, and he left home before I was even born. Name of Caleb. Left Shadow too, I guess. I think there was an argument or something, 'cause I don't ever recall him contacting the family again."

"Sounds like he went into the black."

"Might just be a coincidence, but … it does that."

"Perhaps this attraction to Fireflies runs in the family," Zoe pointed out dryly.

"Perhaps it does. Perhaps it does."

They reached the edge of the graveyard, hit the wall of darkness.

"River, you know the way from here?" Mal asked, checking his gun, feeling their unseen escort melt away.

She nodded. "Of course, captain."

"Then take us in."

---

"Mal, infirmary." Simon's voice was the one that would brook no objection. Even from the captain.

"I'm fine." He watched Kaylee hurry up to her engine room to fix in the new therm regulator.

"You're not. The drugs I gave you are going to wear off pretty soon, and you're going to collapse. I'd rather you did that in the infirmary than out here in the cargo bay."

"And I'd rather I didn't do that while I still had the grenades strapped to me," Mal pointed out.

If anything Simon went paler than usual. "Oh. Yes. Probably a good idea."

"River, could you …" Mal looked at the young psychic.

"Who's worse?"

"What?"

"You said they were worse. How?"

"River, this ain't the time for a discussion like this."

She crossed her arms. "I think it's perfect timing."

Mal closed his eyes and sat down on a convenient crate. "Fine. Shiny. We can sit here and discuss the relative merits of the doc and the pilot over the crazy lunatic assassin, and I'll just blow up. How's that?"

River glared at him, then a smile spread across her face. "That's fine, then." She crossed behind him, helping him off with his coat so she could get to the workings.

"That's fine?"

"Of course. Doctor, pilot, crazy lunatic assassin. Now I know."

There was a click, a faint buzz, and Mal felt somehow safer. "Glad of that, albatross," he said. "Help me outta this thing."

Zoe and River lifted it off him, laying it gently onto the floor.

"Good," Simon said, letting out a heavy breath. "Now. Infirmary."

"You're the doc." Mal stood up and smiled tiredly.

"And I'm the crazy lunatic assassin," River said, going down cross-legged onto the floor to start taking the bomb apart.

"What does that make me?" Zoe asked, standing with her arms crossed, watching this with ill-disguised humour.

"Acting captain," Mal said, following Simon through the doorway.

"Sounds fun."

Simon was right. As Mal lay down on the diagnostic bed he felt the energy leaving him, replaced by an inability to do more than breathe. Except talk.

"How come they lived this long?" he asked. "I mean, discounting anything else, that radiation out there – it shoulda killed 'em."

Simon reached into his bag and held up a small plastic dish, sealed against the atmosphere. It held a smudge of something yellowish. "I think it's the algae they've been processing. I scanned it quickly as we came along. It seems to contain a natural radiation inhibitor." He laid it down on the counter and stared at it. "It's not one hundred percent, and its effectiveness is reduced further by what they do to it, but it looks like it's been damping down the sickness."

"So is that what the animals've been eating? Why they're still alive?"

"Probably." Simon sighed, picking up his scanner and running it over the captain's form. "I'd hazard they're in better shape than the people. If they'd left, made homes away from the crash site, maybe I could have … but it's too late now. There's nothing I can do. Amy was right."

"How long?"

"A few months. Maybe a year. No longer. And they're all sterile. So no children." He thought of his own new daughter back in with Bethany, and itched to go in to see her.

Mal sank back onto the pillow. "It'll be a charnel house."

Simon looked down at him. "It always was."

Hank popped his head into the infirmary. "Kaylee says we're good to go."

"That was fast."

"She just needed to fix the new regulator in. She was right. A matter of moments."

"Then get us away from here."

"Will do. Specially now River's deigned to unlock the access code." He paused. "Oh, and when you're feeling up to it, there's a message from Freya. I think she picked up on something, demanded to know if you're okay."

Mal desperately wanted to get up, go to the com, see it for himself, but somehow his muscles refused to move. "Did you wave back?"

"Yeah. Told her you'd decided to run off with another woman and make a life on a pretty little moon called Amnesty."

"You did that and you're walking home."

Hank grinned. "Nope. Told her you were fine, and soon as we were back in visual you'd be chomping at the bit to see her."

"That I am." He thought for a moment. "Hank, set course for Lazarus."

"Mal?" The pilot stared at him.

"Just do it."

"What about the job?"

"You know, I don't give a _shi di koudai_ about that right now. All I want is to be back with Frey. So …" He looked into Hank's grey eyes, and his voice, ready to command, asked nicely. "Just do it, will you?"

Hank grinned. "Aye aye, Captain, sir!"

---

He was dozing when Kaylee stepped into the infirmary, but woke when she touched his hand, taking it in hers.

"Sorry," she said quickly. "Only you did this for me once. I didn't mean to –"

He smiled at her. "It's okay." For a moment he listened to the hum of his ship around him, the life that kept him living. "You fixed her," he said softly.

She squeezed his hand gently, transferring some of the ever-present grease, and shrugged. "Weren't exactly broken."

"Still, we're flyin'." He looked into her eyes. "You okay?"

"I guess."

"That's a no, then."

She flicked her head irritably, but not at him. "I just … leaving them there …"

"Kaylee, there was nowhere else for them to go."

"I know. But they're sick 'n' all …"

"They were going to kill us."

"I know that too. It don't help."

"No. It don't. Kaylee, as much as I feel for 'em, I'm just glad to have you all safe back on my Firefly." He squeezed her fingers. "I know who my family is."

Her lips twitched, just a little. "Maybe I should be calling you _father_ like River does sometimes."

"You do that and I really will dump you in the hold for a month." He smiled. "Anyway, ain't your father. But you're my _mei-mei_."

"So I can call you _ge ge_?" Now the grin was back, and accompanied by a mischievous glint in the eye.

"Only on high days and holidays," Mal allowed.

"Like your birthday? 'Cause there's one coming up –"

"I don't do birthdays." He fixed her with a stern eye. "I _don't_."

"Okay, Cap'n." She leaned over and kissed his cheek softly, just a brush of her lips. Didn't want to make Freya jealous.

"Anyway, shouldn't you be out making that mobile you wanted?" Mal asked, glad his shirt was done up to the neck, else the blush might show.

She shook her head. "It kinda got left all behind. But that's okay. Didn't seem right, somehow. Not in the end."

"Well, probably for the best. Couldn't've carried it all around with me, not when I was escaping."

"No, I understand."

"'Cept I found this in my pocket. Must've got caught in the seam or something." He held something out to her, placing it on her palm.

Kaylee yelped. That was the only way to describe the sound she made as she examined the hunk of metal. "The Jefferson bolt!"

"Figured it might be that."

"Oh, Cap'n …" She clasped it to her. "That Tyrell …" She looked into his blue eyes. "Working on that ship, back on Phoros, gave me the hankering to see the 'verse."

Mal smiled. "Glad you're seeing it with me, _mei-mei_."

"Thank you, _ge ge_."

"It ain't a holiday."

She laughed. "Then I'd better be getting back to my girls. Bethie's in the engine room right now, putting all my wrenches into size order."

Mal lifted himself onto his elbows in surprise. "You left her there by herself?"

She gave him a very good version of River's 'boob' look. "Course not. Hope's with her."

"Kaylee …"

"So's Simon."

"Ah." Mal lay back. "I wondered where the doc had got to."

"You need him?"

"No. Just wondered, is all." He smiled. "Better get back there."

"_Shr ah_." She turned to go but paused. "You gonna tell everyone what happened? The EMP pulse, all that?"

Mal shook his head. "No. War's long done, and it won't help anyone to know some kid on that Alliance cruiser made a mistake."

"Even if it proves it was the Alliance' fault?"

"This ain't like Miranda, Kaylee. This was an accident, pure and simple. Better left forgotten." Like those people down there.

She smiled. "You're a good man."

"No I ain't. I'm mean, and I'm ornery."

"And tired. Don't forget tired."

"Oh, I ain't forgetting that. In fact, I'm thinking of taking another little nap right now."

"Good idea."

"Wake me up when we get to Lazarus." He closed his eyes, settling back comfortably, adding, "Gonna need all my strength when I get Frey back in my bed." He felt sleep come over him.

Kaylee grinned. "Will do, Mal," she whispered. "Will do."


End file.
